Dragon Ball: A Different Path
by V 4 Vellian
Summary: We all know Goku followed the path of virtue and being care free and loving to all. All of this became his persona thanks to one man: Gohan, the man that took Goku in as a toddler. But what if Goku lied elsewhere? A rather different road shall be traveled.
1. Welcome to Earth

The summer has officially started and I'm ready to start with a new story. My previous story History Rewritten has been postponed for a while as I need time to come with more ideas to prolong the story. So unfortunately it won't be here for a while. But on the positive side...I've got multiple projects being written down and this is one of my newest...now onto the story!

 **Update: I'm editing the earlier chapters of my story. So if it seems a little different, that's why. I plan on making previous chapters better.**

* * *

In a small world, a world where very few people resided in 24/7, two parents had their child in a pod. It was very late out at night, though this was planned as none of them wanted to get spotted by one of their own. They were in a remote area, surrounded by rocky pillars of all different shapes and sizes. The toddler inside the pod was knocking on it constantly, yelling out loud. "Calm down, Kakarot." His father instructed. The man and his son shared a resemblance, especially with their peculiar hairstyle amongst their species which stuck out in almost every direction, practically in the shape of a palm tree. The kid obviously didn't happen to inherit his mother's looks, who was very slender in build, with soft onyx eyes and a paler tone of skin. The hair was a clear difference, hers being quite shaggy and only managing to reach her thin shoulders.

The woman following the man holding the circular object had on similar clothing of the man she was with. She had on armor that took the appearance of a skirt, wearing black pants that took the appearance of tight leggings. She had a very timid look on her face. Though she was like this naturally, this night was one of the very nights that she felt at her most vulnerable. "Hey, why can't we all escape somewhere together?" She asked. Of course, this was a question she needed to be answered. The thought of sending her three-year-old child to some distant planet while they were in potential danger didn't bode well for her. Like any normal mother would, she'd prefer to keep her family together as a unit.

"We can't," the scarred man said. "They'll find us with the scouters." Unfortunately, his word was the final say, regardless of what the situation may be. The woman didn't like this at all, which was shown in a pouted expression that she made sure to quickly put away. Did her mate, too, not feel well having to send her son off or was it just her? Her people was one of a warrior race, the majority only living for the pleasure of battle as they voyaged the universe, the objective is to kill off inhabitants to sale the planet itself to the highest bidder. The Saiyans weren't ones known for much compassion, showing very little interest in their own family even, which was an obvious concept that they lacked dearly. But she knew Bardock. In the past, he was like any other Saiyan. But having gotten close to him, she managed to find a softer side of him that no other even had the deceny to acknowledge. She knew that this had to be something upsetting for him, though he hid those emotions behind his hardened battle facial expression.

The kid inside didn't know what was going on. He didn't understand. Why was he being carried inside the pod? Where was he going? He whined out loud, his tone a mix of deep frustration and confusion as he continued to slam on the softly cushioned walls in the pod. Bardock, his father, set the pod down. "I've programmed the pod to head for a distant planet called earth," the mother said, looking over to her mate. "The planet has plenty of food, but the humans and natural resources there aren't worth much. It'll be the perfect place for him."

Kakarot had his hands pressed up against the glass, staring wide-eyed into the eyes of his mother and father. The boy was rather scared and afraid, not knowing what to do. The kid was a Saiyan for sure, but he was only three. The hardened savagery that the average Saiyan had wasn't quite embedded in his heart. He knew that these two people he were looking at were indeed his parents, but he had so many questions in the back of his head. The main one being 'why were they abandoning him?' Though that wasn't what they were doing, the boy had a true lack of understanding of what was going on at the present moment. Gine neared her face against the circular glass shape window set in the center of the pod and spoke. "If Bardock's wrong we'll come and get you as soon as we can!" his mother urged on.

Bardock didn't want to send his son off without saying a couple of words to him. He knew the boy was old enough to understand and figured that he would remember these words for the remainder of his life. "Remember, you musn't look up at the moon for too long."

"I'll be sure to tell Raditz about your leave," Gine said.

"You have to stay alive," Bardock said. Unlike Gine, who had an expression of troubled worry, Bardock had a soft smile. This situation to Kakarot seemed bad enough as it is and he wanted to uplift the boy.

"Take care..."

The engine of the pod started to break its way into existence. The pod slowly elevated itself, being watched by none other than Bardock and Gine below. "And watch out for the Galactic Patrol!" Seeing her son being sent off, Gine couldn't feel herself holding in her emotions anymore. She placed her hand over her face, doing her best to hide those tears that came rolling down her cheeks. Bardock took note of this and placed his arm on his mate's back. The gesture was somewhat soft, but he made sure to convey an unspoken message to Gine that he'd always be there for her.

The small round ship Kakarot was in left the planet's atmosphere in less than a split second. The pod was flying past planets at blinding speed, though inside the feeling of travel felt like as smooth as water on calm oceans. Seeing how he was no longer on the world he only knew, Kakarot set back down into his pod. In the back of his head, he knew that the appearance of his parents would now only be a memory. It was a deep gut feeling he just had. As he looked out through the window of his pod, he felt a deep feeling of drowsiness beginning to overwhelm him. The kid's eyes were getting extremely heavy. He tried his best to stay awake, though it was inevitable that he'd succumb into sleeping. The boy had his head tilted towards his left shoulder with his eyes sealed tight. And like a dead light, he was out.

 **1 Month Later**

An extraordinary sized, red light shined bright through the entirety of the universe itself, its size being larger than some planets in the galaxy by itself. Around it surrounded bright red flames, which were indeed hot. The simple touch of it and one portion of the body would be blown away in an instant. Just a few hundred miles away from this energy created supernova resided a planet, one of small size at that. This was known as the homeworld of the Saiyans, Planet Vegeta, a world where only a couple thousand Saiyans lived. People were called to that world, all without the knowledge of their lives coming to an end. Only a handful of people (like Bardock) knew that the jig was up. He made an attempt to put a stop to it by coming out of space and fend off Freeza himself. The battle scarred Saiyan had an angry scowl on his face. He faced this gigantic supernova himself, showing a true lack of fear. The supernova neared him, moving at quite the slow pace. Although for Bardock, it was coming at him like a speeding ship. It neared closer and closer. The attack overtook him, burning every part of his skin, as well as the armor he wore, which broke off piece by piece. Once the supernova came into contact with the small ruby planet, it began to began to shake and rumble. Cracks being formed.

The faces of his parents flashed...then that of his brother Raditz. It shook violently until...

BOOM!

Kakarot's eyes shot back open. A loud crashing sound was exactly what happened to wake him up. His eyes still heavy, he rubbed them, showing signs of extreme grogginess. Once he could see clearly, he was able to take a look at where he was. The entrance to his pod was opened, letting the bright rays of the sun that shown on his horizon into his dark pod. Never having experienced such a radiance before, the three-year-old squinted his eyes. He had been used to darkness so much that his eyes were far too sensitive to take the sun, even if only just a portion of it was shown.

"How far away from it are we?" a voice from afar spoke. It sounded like the voice of a very small girl, though Kakarot had no experience with that yet. The kid made sure to keep quiet and listen on, hoping that there weren't people coming for him already

"I don't know," another person responded. "I heard of it being around here..."

"I found it!" The little blue imp child-like man said. "Finally! We've got it...the One Star Dragon Ball!" The young boy didn't take the appearance of an average human. Apart from his blue complex, he wore a green, red and blue tunic, with a white frill on his neck.

"Yes," a small dog like boy said. He was in no way shape or form a human, though would without a doubt be considered an earthling. He took the appearance of a dog, who just exited the stages of a pup. He stood on his two back legs like a normal human would. And he also wore a purple ninja uniform, which consisted of a hood and kimono underneath. On his back was a short sword, which he hadn't found any use for yet. "Finally..." They rejoiced as they found one of the many treasures they were seeking. But it'd be short-lived as Kakarot's pod was discovered.

"Hey!" The girl called out to the others. The girl was fairly young, which was shown in her tone of voice as well as her short stature. Her blue eyes stood out compared to the average eye color of her two comrades. She had on a trench coat, which was embedded with a red star insignia on each shoulder. Her fingers were pointed at the mysterious pod that happened to land just moments before they arrived in this area. "What's this?"

"What is it, Mai? We've just found the one star dragon ball and you're on about something else?"

"It could be another Dragonball!" the dog said, his tail wagging in excitement.

The blue imp chuckled graciously and rubbed his hands. Soba, his minion, held the dragon ball. "You may be right!" He ran over to Mai. "What is it!"

Soba and Pilaf ran towards Mai at top speed. Both of them didn't notice the large crater that was surrounding them until it was too late. As soon as he took notice of it, Pilaf did his best to come to an immediate halt. His feet were planted into the ground, which kicked up dirt while he slowed down his momentum, sliding to the edge of the big gaping hole. He held his arms out, stopping Soba from falling as well. Soba watched as rocks fell over, skipping until it hit the pod.

"Gulp!"

"That was a close one," Pilaf said, beads of sweat rolling down his face. He then turned to Mai. "Was this what you wanted to show us?" he asked her.

"Look!" Mai said again. She was pointing at a little boy inside. "There's a kid inside!"

"Hm?" Shuu looked over to where Mai had her own eyes pointed. Upon seeing what she saw, which was a little kid, nothing but a toddler, his eyes widened. "You're right, there is!"

Pilaf crossed his arms, lacking interest. The only thing on his mind was the Dragon Balls. Seeing some kid lying in the middle of nowhere was something he truly didn't care about "Mai...we're in the middle of nowhere! What could a toddler be doing here?"

Mai shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know! But he's here and...all alone." The girl was beginning to feel somewhat empathetic with the child, who remained in his pod, listening intently.

"Tch! Just leave him," Pilaf said with a huff. "We can't let a simple baby hold us down from getting world domination!"

"But we can't just leave him here," Soba protested. "He's a kid. All alone. His parents probably abandoned him!"

Pilaf growled. "No." He turned around with his arms crossed

Mai, being a bit brave, decided to slide down into the crater. She made sure to be careful and balanced. Rocks skipped down as she slid on the edge. Kakarot felt the light of the bright sun go away a bit due to the shadow of Mai. Thanks to the ensuing darkness, his sensitive eyes didn't have to deal with the heavy rays of heat. With his sight back, the kid spotted a stranger approaching him. Seeing someone he didn't know come at him in such a suspicious manner started to make him anxious.. "Why are you being so careful?" Pilaf asked. "He's just a brat!" He slid down the crater. "Here...let me see!"

Kakarot grew more and more anxious as Pilaf approached him so quickly. A bit scared, boy's adrenaline began to quickly arise. Kakarot was quick and hopped right at Pilaf, scratching him across the face. The strange three-year-old boy in weird armor then took off, his tail lashing side to side as he did. He ran far and didn't even try to look back. The sun was right on top of his head, though he ignored the heat and kept running.

"THAT LITTLE DEMON!" Pilaf held his bleeding cheek, seething with anger out of embarrassment. "Get him!"

Mai and Soba obeyed Pilaf's orders and both took off after the fleeing boy. Kakarot felt the gravity on earth was far lighter than his home world and he was only out of the incubator on his homeworld for a few moments before being placed into that pod of his. But at the same time, he had never used his legs so much before. Not being accustomed to such physical movement, he began to slow down.

His breaths got heavier and heavier. The feeling of his legs and calves as he ran started to feel more and denser the longer and harder he ran. He looked behind him, desperately trying to find the two following him. He then shifted his head back infront of hi. Seeing how he managed to form a substantial amount of disparity due to his speed, he felt quite sure that they weren't going to catch up with him.

"It's best we use the Pilaf machine we just got," Mai said as she ran just a few inches ahead of Soba.

Soba nodded. "Right!"

Both Mai and Soba clicked on a capsule and threw it at the ground. The two stopped in their tracks and watched as the mini capsule turned right into two machines. The machines were battlesuits, taking physical features of a human, though much more endurable. Mai was in a big pink one as Shuu was in a tall but thinner machine with legs and arms. The two rocketed into the sky, seeing nothing but trees ahead.

Kakarot was now located amongst the woods. The boy was exhausted, cold sweat rolling down his chubby cheeks, dripping down from the tip of his chin. He thought this world would be a rather nonviolent one from the way he heard his father speaking about earth prior to sending him off. Though from what was transpiring at the present moment, he couldn't help but feel he was being attacked, and for very little reason. The back of his armor was placed against the weakened bark of an old tree. He was huffing heavily, but he made sure to not make a lot of noise.

GRGRGRKKKK

The boy moaned. His stomach just happened to let out a silent growl, telling him that he needed food. From the moment he got out of that incubator, he didn't get not one bite to eat of anything.

His ears perked up at the sound of a growl coming from somewhere else other than his gut. The kid looked over where he heard the sound coming from. In that same area, a vicious looking animal slowly crept up to the scene, its eyes glued onto Kakarot. Just when it seemed to not be able to get any worse a sabretooth was growling right at him. The looks of a food-deprived animal could be noted from the jump. It didn't take its eyes off of him and was looking onto the boy as if he'd be his next big meal in a while. Kakarot used his legs to raise himself onto his two feet, his back still pressed against the bark of the tree he was lying against just seconds earlier. The kid's heart was pounding. He began to get the same anxious feeling from earlier when those strangers neared his pod. Last time he managed to use his thin legs to carry him to safety, though this time he didn't have the energy to run away and he knew it. There was only one way to settle this and manage to come out with a beating heart. The sabretooth, having gotten fed up with just waiting, pounced right at his supposed next meal, his razor claws out for his target.

Kakarot did so as well and ran towards the Sabretooth, who wasn't expecting its target to come at him. The way Kakarot was looking so vulnerable and scared earlier, the animal was sure that the last thing he would ever do is try to fight back. Somewhat pissed that he'd actually have to fight for his meal, the Sabretooth growled and scratched against Kakarot's chest plate. Four white lines could be seen on his armor, all from the claws of the ferocious beast. The boy was lucky that his armor was well built for these types of situations. The Sabretooth used his unordinary long tail to knock Kakarot back. The little boy's back went crashing into the same tree he was laid against earlier. Large pieces of bark detached itself from the tree the moment Kakarot's back came crashing into it. The boy winced at the pain he received, but he knew he had to get back up. So he did.

He knew if he wasn't hungry he'd probably manage to take on the animal. But as far as things went right now, he couldn't. The Sabretooth slowly approached him, its head lowered. It could tell Kakarot wasn't going to fight now, seeing how the boy was positioned. The three-year-old was cowering and had his back against the tree. He was to face it head on or at least try. The sabretooth jumped at him again. Kakarot's already eyes full of concern widened as it was going to land on him with one slight bounce off the ground.

Once again it seemed like luck was on Kakarot's side. Mai's giant pink machine came out of nowhere and knocked the sabretooth away before the animal could even decipher what was going on. The sabretooth himself was rammed into a tree, a loud snap being heard before falling hard on its side. Its ribs were aching now as a few of them cracked. Now he had to deal with both hunger and broken bones. It whined as it got back up and ran away with a limp. It was pissed off that he missed off on a sure meal, but he valued his life more than pride. There'd always be another day to come back to fight. Kakarot didn't know how to form words in order to describe how relieved he was.

He felt a huge drain of energy overcome him as his adrenaline began to diminish. He began to get groggy and dizzy, his vision becoming blurry yet again. He wasn't very much aware, though he was being elevated into the sky. Behind him was Soba, dangling the little boy by his monkey-like tail with a tight squeeze. "Look," Mai said. She clicked a button on the ship to open it up before hopping out of it. Her pink machine turned into a capsule, which she caught before it could land on the ground. "The wild monkey baby can be tamed after all," she finished, placing the capsule into her pocket.

"But what should we do with him now?" Soba asked, still holding the boy.

Mai rubbed her chin. She knew Pilaf would oppose to bringing the boy with them, but seeing how small yet strong Kakarot was she figured that he would be a good asset to their gang. "We keep him," she concluded.

"A-Are you sure?" Shuu asked, a sincere amount of uncertainty in his voice. "I can't help but feel he's dangerous." Just by seeing how small the boy was and seeing what he was capable of doing, this encouraged Soba to have his own personal doubts.

"I'm sure," Mai said. "Look at him." Mai eyed Kakarot has he was now sleeping. "He's still a baby. We should be able to mold him the way we want when it's all said and done."

Shuu nodded his head. "I hope you're not wrong, Mai."

Mai had a smug grin plastered on her face. "I know that I'm not."

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And there concludes the prologue of this story. Keep in mind this is based on Dragon Ball Minus which is why Kakarot is three years old. If you're interested...keep reading. And feel free to review this story.


	2. Follow me!

Thousands of kilometers from the Cities of the average men, a seasoned old man lived in the mountains. This area he resided in was entitled Mt. Pazou. Here, nothing but mountains and animals of all different types remained in the area, which was considered quite a remote one. He sat in his small abode (a hut) that lacked one of a luxurious style. He had a cot just placed a couple of yards away from him where he slept and a dresser just a couple of feet away from that. Yes, the place would be considered small by some person in the city, though this old man was a very simple man. And he found himself truly content with how he lived. Right before him at the present moment was a plate of food prepared before him that sat on a small table. For years he has lived in this area, an area of peace and solitude. He began to chow down on his plate of food, starting off the morning just right. As he was beginning to enjoy his morning meal, he heard something outside.

Vroom Vroom.

"Eh?" The old man wasn't one to enter the city much, but from the sound being emitted outside, he realized without a doubt that it happened to belong in an engine. The first thing on his mind, though was why would a person come all the way this far into such a small place.

Outside his home a young girl near a car could be seen standing. Any male with a right mind would label her attractive. Out in this small part of the world, she showed up in a simple pink dress, which revealed her smooth slender thighs. A purple scarf was around her neck, set just above the name signed on her shirt which was labeled Bulma in black font. Her purple hair was styled into a simple ponytail as she set her blue colored eyes onto a small circular device she had in her hand. "It says it should be..." she started to turn around. "There." She looked up, spotting a rather old man just outside his home. "Oh..." The girl was taken by somewhat of a surprise that an old man would just be outside. Then again, there was a small home, so what else should she have expected?

"Hello," he greeted with a warm smile. He made sure to dress himself up in his basic Chinese martial arts uniform, which consisted of a sleeveless orange jacket over a long-sleeved black shirt, before coming outside. He also had on a green hat, which covered his bald head. "How may I help you?" He made sure to give a pleasant welcome. First impressions were everything.

"Hey," the girl greeted, partially nervous. She didn't expect to meet anyone from around this area. Her being by herself made her a bit more anxious as she was alone and an old timer was out here. She didn't know who this man was nor what he would try to do.

"I take it you must be from the city," he said. He walked up to her and was the first to try and greet with a handshake. "I'm Son Gohan."

The girl sensed he wasn't so bad after all, although she was sure to err more on the cautious side. "I'm Bulma," she responded, making sure to accept the old man's handshake. "And yes, I'm from the city."

"Nice to meet you then Bulma." He pulled his hand back, placing both of his arms behind his back. "So, what brings you here all the way from the city?" Bulma laughed nervously, not sure she just wanted to tell the old man. Gohan himself wasn't dumb and knew that there had to be a motive. "It must be something important if you dared to come all the way from the city towards here."

"As a matter of fact, it is," Bulma replied.

Gohan turned around. "I welcome you inside." He began to walk towards his home. "Surely you're hungry."

"S-Sure..." Bulma followed Gohan from behind. They just met one another and under 30 seconds of conversation, she was already invited into his small hut of a home. The girl scrunched her face a little. She didn't want to be rude, so she followed him anyway.

"Now I know it's small, but I never been the type to cohabitate."

Gohan didn't notice Bulma didn't pay any attention to him. The girl happened to spot something that stood directly ahead of her. It turned out that was the very thing she had been looking for the entire time. With a burst of speed, she almost knocked the man over as she ran passed him. She picked up an orange ball where Gohan had it placed on a counter. "The Dragon Ball!" She exclaimed with glee. "So it really was here!"

Gohan raised his eyebrow. He couldn't catch onto anything Bulma was implying. "Dragon Ball?" he made his way towards Bulma. "Excuse me miss...what's going on?" Gohan figured that this Dragon Ball had something to do with Bulma coming from way out of the city. The old man expected her to give him some details

Bulma had a wide smile on her face after having found what she was looking for. "Okay, guess I'll have to tell you then!" She reached for a brown pouch that she had attached to her waist and opened it up. Out came two near replicas of the ball that she took from Gohan's counter-one with five red stars and the other with two.

Gohan eyed the two with great curiosity. "So there's more..." He scrutinized the little round orange orbs, as well as his own, which had four red stars on it. He quickly noted how all of the same orange orbs had a different amount of small stars on them. 'And I was always under the impression that there was only just one...a rare gem.' He thought to himself.

Bulma placed all three dragon balls on the small table Gohan had in his home. "These Dragon Balls...I found one of these bad boys in my old cellar at home. I tried to figure out what these things were and nobody could explain, so I decided to do my own research. These magical orbs are called Dragon Balls. All seven of them have a different amount of stars on them. Each ranging from one to seven."

Gohan rubbed his bushy, white mustache, getting more and more intrigued as Bulma continued on with her story. "Interesting."

"But that isn't even the good part," Bulma said. "Once all seven are collected, you recite the magic words and an enormous dragon is supposed to appear. You ask for any wish, whatever it may be and he grants it. The last person to collect the dragon balls became the king of the earth!"

Gohan chuckled internally, just thinking of how the king of the earth (an anthropomorphic dog stood below a giant dragon, wishing to be able to become king of the rule. 'So that's how, huh?'

"The bad part is after the dragon balls are gathered, they all scatter in seven different directions. So right now I'm trying to collect them."

"But how?" Gohan asked. "Wouldn't it be fairly difficult to search for these balls if they're all scattered across the earth?"

Bulma showed Gohan the small circular device in her hand. "This thing is what I use to track the dragon balls! That's how I found yours!"

"What are you going to wish for?" Gohan asked. The old man felt that by getting this piece of information from her, he would be able to tell what kind of person Bulma was.

Bulma was getting giddy just at the thought of her wish. Her face was somewhat flushed, but she figured why not tell the old man anyway. "At first I was going to wish for a lifetime supply of strawberries that never runs out!" Her eyes then took the shape of a heart. "But now I know what I want...A wonderful boyfriend-NO, The Perfect Boyfriend. The one right just for me!" Gohan had no words. "Well, that's about it. So let me have the dragon ball!"

"Sure," Gohan said. From what she just told him, Gohan came to the conclusion that she was just like any other young girl around her age-young and dumb. Regardless, the wish was fairly harmless and wasn't out for any bad intentions, so he didn't have any critiques there.

"Thanks!" Bulma said as she took the dragon ball and headed out the door. After having gotten three Dragon Balls, all Bulma needed was four more. The girl wanted to get on with it as soon as possible so she could get to her wish as quickly as humanly possible.

Gohan ran out the house, trying his best to catch up with her. "But wait!" he called out.

"Huh?" Bulma looked at him, just mere yards away from the car she drove in. "What is it?"

"Travelling the world by yourself just for some dragon balls seems quite dangerous. And you just being a young girl, anything can happen." Bulma knew Gohan had a point, so she pondered on it for the moment. After thinking about it for a brief second, the girl started to shake her head. She honestly didn't see it. She was a young girl and Gohan was an old geezer. So how could he possibly help her on a dangerous quest? If stuff were to hit the fan, then he wouldn't be able to fend for him nor her in any way possible. At the very least, he'd end up with a broken hip. "I'm a trained martial artist myself, you know. I can protect you!"

DING!

And just like that Bulma opened the passenger side door for Gohan, welcoming him to get in. "Then come on!" Gohan got in the car. And without warning, she took off at near top speed. "I was going to bring you along anyway! Being over there by yourself must be boring."

Gohan looked at the trees that were flying by as Bulma drove the car like a mad woman. "It's rather peaceful where I live," Gohan said. "I like it."

Bulma just snickered. "Whatever you say," Bulma said. "Now let's go hunt these dragon balls!"

 _(After going on a really big adventure, Bulma and Gohan met many others throughout. Gohan got to meet his old master Roshi, as well as a little pig. The one person who impressed him the most was Yamcha, who Gohan personally recruited him to join as he was a rather strong fighter as well. Getting Yamcha to rid of his bandit like ways and also ridding of the rabbit that caused terror in the city, it was time they went for the last one dragon ball)._

Bulma rode in a car, Yamcha, Puar (Yamcha's friend), and Oolong riding alongside them. Gohan was above them, riding the yellow cloud known as Kinto'un. Only those of pure heart could ride it and the others didn't prove worthy enough. Gohan enjoyed riding it, the cloud being faster than any other type of transportation known to man.

Upon the pillars surrounding them, the group was being watched and had no idea about it. A female spoke through a walkie-talkie. "Pilaf sir, we're at our current location. There is a single car driving through with a person following." The female was Mai, who had grown over the past nine years. She was a young female now, though her style of clothing hadn't grown in the slightest.

"That's got to be it then!" Pilaf exclaimed through his microphone. "Proceed with the plan." The guys had a Dragon Ball tracker of their own, though it wasn't portable like the device Bulma used to be able to track the Dragon Balls.

"Soba, Kakarot..." Mai spoke. "Do the both of you see the car?"

"Yes," Kakarot responded. Over the past nine years, he like Mai happened to grow, too. He was only 12, so he had a lot more of that to do. The boy's hair didn't change a bit, neither was the style of his clothing. He remained with the green Saiyan armor and black pants, which stopped just to his knees. Just as Mai was doing, he was keeping an eye out for the group approaching them. Just nine years ago he was afraid of the very group he was currently with. And after having gotten used to them, he virtually became one of them. He was of small stature, but fairly strong.

Mai had a smug look on her face. "They're all the ones carrying the dragon balls..."

As the group was enjoying their peaceful ride, the car was suddenly hit by a rocket. The car was blown to pieces, but the ones inside were all safe. The impact of the blast took Kinto'un by surprise and even had Gohan falling off his cloud. None of them expected an event like this to take place and it got them good while they were off-guard. Kakarot jumped down from one of the pillars, landing softly on the ground. He ran over to the area of where the gang was and got ahold of the case with six dragon balls occupied inside. After having accomplished his goal, he grinned at the crew, who were all laid out momentarily. "Thanks for the present." No more words were shared as Kakarot suddenly used his speedy legs to take off with the Dragon Balls.

None of them except Gohan could measure how fast the boy was running. "W-Where'd he go?" Yamcha asked. The long-haired scarred bandit looked around desperately, a bit dazed, still. He didn't even get to break down just who robbed them of their possessions.

"I've got him!" Gohan exclaimed as he followed the boy. He hopped on the Kinto'un and took off. It didn't matter if Kakarot was the fastest person on two legs, none were faster on the ground than Kinto'un was faster in the air. With the speed Gohan flew at, he managed to catch up to Kakarot in no time.

While he was sprinting, he looked up from behind. Gohan was catching up with him and was doing so quickly! "Darn...he's faster than I thought!" The boy knew that at this rate, Gohan would eventually be right on him like white on rice.

"We should have let Soba use the machine." Mai wasn't all too sure that their plan was going to go down the way that they had all hoped.

Gohan grabbed a red pole he had wrapped around him that was on his back. "Nyoi-bo extend!" Listening to his command, the red pole he drew grew many feet long, as long as it needed in order to reach its target.

While running, Kakarot felt a sharp pain hit his back. As soon as the boy was hit from behind, he was thrown off balance. He lost his footing and fell over on his stomach, dropping the case he stole in the process. Gohan, after managing to catch up to the boy, hopped off his yellow cloud. The pole retracted, allowing Gohan to put it on his back. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kakarot stood up, getting on his two feet. Once he got up to his feet, he turned around. Upon seeing the first look of this man that came after him, all of Kakarot's worries went away. "Oh...just forgone person past his age. I can take you on."

"That overconfidence will be your downfall, boy."

Kakarot scoffed. "And am I supposed to care?" he ran his way over to Gohan, his fist cocked back. Over the years, he was trained to fight by Mai, who was an expert at the basics. And Soba taught him how to properly use swords and knives. The boy reached into his belt full of weapons with his other hand and pulled out a knife.

Gohan barely moved his feet, dodging Kakarot's attempt at a strike and swing. Kakarot tried slashing the old man once more, but Gohan leaned back, falling on his back. He had his hands on the ground, allowing him to kick the knife right out of Kakarot's hands. Gohan hopped back up, smacking away Kakarot's oncoming fist. He dodged a knee to the stomach and punched the boy right in the face. Kakarot didn't see the next hit coming, getting a finger in both of his eyes. He growled. Gohan then ended his combo with a full palm strike to the face. Gohan was somewhat confused at how Kakarot fought. The kid was well trained, yes, but the way he swung that knife in his hand...it was as if he was holding back. Any person truly bent on willing to stab another human to death would go all out. And that was something Kakarot wasn't doing at all.

Kakarot fell right on his back, sliding. 'H-How...?' Was all Kakarot could think as he rubbed his eyes. 'Soba AND Mai both double-teamed me and couldn't even touch me. But this old timer can?' The kid wasn't just shocked at the fact that one simple man could take him one, but some old timer with a face full of wrinkles managed to toy with him and not have any troubles at all.

"Let us go freely," Gohan said. "I don't take interest nor pleasure in harming children."

Kakarot smirked. Even if he was to get beaten, he and crew had another plan up their sleeve. "I didn't think there'd be anyone capable of beating me." He grabbed his walkie-talkie, getting into contact with his partner. "Soba...initiate Contingency Plan B!" Kakarot chuckled.

Gohan eyed Kakarot suspiciously. From just above Soba appeared in a robot machine, knocking Gohan over to the side. The old man didn't even see it coming. And if he did happen to turn around, he'd have absolutely no time to move out of the way. After knocking him down, Soba took the briefcase and flew up into the sky. "T-The dragon balls!" Gohan wiped the blood from his lips.

Kakarot snickered. "Follow me if you wish to get your balls back!" Kakarot ran away. This time he was much faster than before.

Gohan didn't have the patience to put up with this kid. But he figured he was up to no good using those dragon balls. He had to stop him and his partners. "This is a trap...I know it," Gohan thought to himself. But he had no other choice, so he followed.

Kakarot spoke in his walkie-talkie as he ran towards the castle. "Pilaf," the boy spoke. "I've lured him in."

"Why didn't you just kill him on the spot?" Pilaf asked, annoyed.

"He's stronger than me...at least in this form. Do me a favor and check the calendar. I feel today won't be his lucky day." Kakarot cut off the reception as he continued his way to the castle.

* * *

A/N: Just a fair warning. Know that Kakarot using the knife on Gohan was merely an intimidation tactic. Never before had he truly killed someone, therefore, he is not used to this...at least he never has consciously. Stay tuned.


	3. Ostracized and Indentured

"Nice job leading him into their own trap," Pilaf commended Kakarot.

Kakarot's face made it too obvious he took pride in helping his family out. After realizing that he was completely outmatched in a one on one battle, Kakarot had Gohan and the others follow him, only to be lead to their seeming demise. The boy had each of them lead into a room where they were hit with sleeping gas and then carried them off to another room which was deemed impossible for them all to break through due to the sturdy walls they were trapped in. "It's best you make your wish soon," Mai suggested. "Before the full moon...sir."

Pilaf's eyes went wide. The man let so much time pass that he totally forgot about the night of the full moon. He and the gang had a terrible experience with the full moon before and didn't want it to happen again. "You're right, Mai! Let's go, now!" The gang had to speed things up double time, getting back to business, though with a higher sense of urgency than before.

The four all went outside, the sun beginning to set. Pilaf rubbed his hands, enthusiastic in order to maintain his wish. "This is perfect, you four. After all this time we've finally been able to get what we've all wished for."

Soba had the seven dragon balls all in a tray. "The entire world shall now be under your foot," Kakarot reminded.

"Indeed..." Pilaf grinned.

Inside the room where the group was placed, Yamcha was having a difficult time breaking down the brick walls from inside. He and Gohan both were trying their best to break it down, though it was extremely tough for even them. "Damn it..." He turned over to Gohan. "This wall is far too hard to break through just by merely punching it!"

Gohan's recent kick put a small, yet sizable hole for them to see through. "Look..."

Bulma peeked through as well. He watched as the dog set down the Dragon Balls. Realizing that they were just moments before initiating the ritual, the girl just about panicked. "They're setting down the dragon balls!"

"Gohan," Yamcha called out. "Use your Kamehameha! Surely you can break it then."

"Good thinking, young man." Gohan himself almost forgot about the use of the Kamehameha. The seasoned martial artist crouched down and cupped his hands together. "Alright, then. Here goes nothing..."

"Everyone back up," Yamcha warned. Oolong, Puar, and Bulma all didn't have to be told twice and did what they were advised the first time they heard it. They've all seen the Kamehameha before, so they knew just how destructive it could be.

"Kame..."

"COME OUT DRAGON AND MAKE MY WISH COME TRUE!"

"Hame..." Gohan put a bit of a strain on his body as he was getting old and hadn't used the Kamehameha in a while, but desperate times called for desperate measures. A blue light appeared between both of his hands. It caught the eye of everyone, who never seen the energy generate this close up before.

In an instant, the dragon known as Shenlong had risen from the seven balls. A thin line of bright and shocking light arose as the clouds were all blocked by total blackness. This, being the only light they saw, illuminated the entire area. Kakarot, Mai, Soba, and Pilaf himself all watched full of amazement as the giant dragon came about. In their eyes, this was surely an unforgetful moment.

"HAA!" The blue beam Gohan charged in the midst of his cupped hands which came forth converted into a thick wave of ki, crashing into the walls Gohan shot them towards. The hole that was there before paled in comparison to how large it became once Gohan's attack broke more pieces of the wall. "We haven't got time," Gohan called out. "Let's move it!"

Yamcha and Puar didn't waste any time and both changed into a bat before taking off through the giant hole. Yamcha securely held onto Bulma as he hopped down. Gohan followed Yamcha and hopped down as well. All quickly made their way to the dragon.

But Oolong and Pura both stopped in their tracks at the sheer presence of Shenlong. The overwhelming size of the Dragon had their eyes in a trance for a brief moment. Kakarot turned his head slightly to the side for a quick second. He took a double take and noted that they were all outside. The Saiyan boy's anxiety shot through the roof upon especially seeing Gohan out in the open. 'This isn't good...' If he had to go and face Gohan yet again, then he knew that there'd be no chance in hell he'd survive.

"Come, tell me your wish!" Shenlong said in a booming voice. "I shall grant only one." The Dragon not only looked intimidating with its pure red eyes, though the tone of his voice as well. When he spoke, it demanded pure authority. Such presence of a being was unworldly.

Pilaf stuttered to get his wish out, not because of the Dragon itself, though also due to the fact that he was so close to finally getting his dream wish. For years he could only dream of world domination, but now that it was about to come true. It feel nearly too good to be true. And so it was. "I-I...I...I want..."

They were getting closer. Gohan and the others were sure making their way as fast as they could on foot. And Kakarot was starting to get worried. The closer they got was the more he was going on edge.

"We need to interrupt their wish!" Oolong called out.

Kakarot overheard them say that and realized he needed to do something and quick. He had no idea of what the others could possibly wish for at this moment. He had no other choice. "I WANT A GLASS OF WINE!" Kakarot intervened. His heart was pumping harder than ever. He had no idea how Pilaf and the others would react.

Pilaf, Mai, and Soba all jerked their heads at Kakarot, who was huffing. The Saiyan boy's mouth slipped. He knew that the others were going to say something before Pilaf, so he needed to intervene...with anything he could. He didn't realize just how bad he failed until he wished for something so useless at the given moment.

Oolong and Puar were both shocked as well. "NO!" Bulma yelled. She herself was half scared to death. The girl had no idea just what exactly they wished for.

"Rats..." Gohan mumbled under his breath.

It was basically a whole lot of confusion. Kakarot was sure that the others would hurry and go for a wish, which were their plans. He didn't know if they were going to wish bad on him and his crew, so he needed to say something. The kid could have wished for Pilaf to be king, but he didn't think it through and he only realized this before it was too late. But on the other hand, Gohan and the others didn't know exactly what the wish was. And whatever it was they thought of nothing positive.

The Dragon, hearing the wish, had his dark red eyes glow a bright red. This was the process of having a wished granted. He would have his red eyes glow prior to making a simple wish into reality.

From the sky appeared a glass. It softly fell right into Kakarot's hands in the similar fashion of a feather. "Your wish has been granted! Farewell!"

The seven dragon balls all rose into the sky, hovering in circles with one another. In an instant, all of them scattered seven directions across the planet. "A-Ah..." Pilaf was at a true loss for words. And just like that, all his dreams were taken away from him...by his own partner.

"Hey..." Yamcha called out. "That's not the wish he wanted!" He grinned. "Hahahaha! Serves him right!"

Pilaf growled. He didn't know what to think at the current moment. For years, Pilaf had worked his ass off and put himself into unthinkable situations just in search of a few damn balls. He finally got all seven and was mere seconds from getting his wish. For anyone to take that away from him, was total damning. "You...you traitor!" He looked over to Mai and Soba. "All of them...kill all of them! Even Kakarot!" Pilaf's head was filled with such frustration that he didn't even bother to think before he spoke. Even after practically raising Kakarot, he was okay with killing him off for one simple mistake.

Kakarot was wide-eyed. "W-What?" The boy was confused. Out of all reactions, he did expect Pilaf to be angry with him and to render some form of punishment, though the boy would have never thought in a million years that such words would come from Pilaf's mouth, directed towards him of all people. Kakarot simply did this as a desperation move. He realized the other person was going to wish for something before Pilaf and wanted to prevent it because he immediately assumed it'd be something bad on him and the people he considered family. Wishing for something as random and dumb as wine was the first thing that came to mind. Mai and Soba both seemed really hesitant as they drew their swords. The solemn look on their faces showed that they truly didn't want to do this, though they knew where their loyalties lied. And it was with Pilaf...always. "You can't!" Kakarot protested. The boy hopped back. "I did this for us!" The amount of shock at the current moment was all too much for him as he began to sweat profusely.

"We took you in when you were just a baby!" Pilaf yelled. "We raised you to be with us. And you backstab us. If that doesn't call for death, then I don't know what does!"

Kakarot was put under a lot of anxiety. 'Why...' He didn't want to fight the people he practically called his very own family. He didn't know what the others could possibly wish for. Maybe something far worse than what Pilaf wanted. But regardless of that now, Kakarot had dug himself so far under now that there was no going back.

"GET HIM!" Mai and Soba reacted immediately and both swung their swords at Kakarot.

Kakarot rammed his arms into their swords. As the tip of their swords came into contact with his skin, he winced in pain. He received a few cuts, which were deep enough to make him bleed. He was stronger than any ordinary person, but he could still be harmed by something as sharp as the swords they all carried.

Kakarot drew his own sword attached to his back... Mai had taught him to fight with one many years ago. She even taught him to use a gun. Now he was forced to fight against them. And this was no ordinary fencing like the past either. This was the real deal.

"T-They're attacking their own man!" Oolong told Yamcha and Gohan.

"Does that mean he's on our side?" Puar asked.

"Not even close!" Kakarot swung his sword at both Mai and Soba. Kakarot could have hit them easily, but he made sure to hold back.

Both barely missed it. Their hearts were pounding as Kakarot stared into their eyes. He gave them the most apologetic look he could. "I don't want to kill you. None of you," Kakarot said. "You're my family." Kakarot could tell that both Soba and Mai were hesitant in their swings. If they truly wanted to kill him with a few strikes, they'd do much more than they were doing at the current moment.

Pilaf growled. He was buying none of it. "You betrayed us!" He didn't want to hear any of the talk coming from Kakarot. Ruling the earth meant everything to him and Kakarot just ruined it. He would have done the same to Soba and Mai if either of them were in Kakarot's place.

Kakarot knew explaining himself was futile. These were the very people that brought him in when he was just a toddler. They raised him. "I'm not going to kill you." He slung the sword to his side, planting the sharp tip right into the ground. The boy had another idea in mind. "I suggest you all leave." He wagged his tail. It didn't take long for Pilaf and the others to take a hint.

Gohan looked onto the boy and made his own conclusions in his head. 'The boy isn't as bad as he gives himself off to be. Nor are his two comrades. If they were truly evil, then none of them would be as disinclined as they are right now.'

Pilaf and the others knew exactly what he was about to do. The sun was no longer in the sky. The stars were all shining brightly. By the looks of it, the night was beautiful. The only thing that made the appearance of the night so much better was the bright glow of the moon, which bestowed upon everyone below. Pilaf knew he had no choice in the matter. Fighting Kakarot when he changed under the full moon would result in not only the death of Pilaf but everyone else in the surrounding. Figuring it'd be best to live another day and perhaps get the dragon balls again would do him much better than death itself. "Fine," Pilaf said as he leered at Kakarot. "From here on out you are banned from our gang. Don't ever try to come into contact with us again."

Mai and Soba both made their way towards Pilaf. As they seemed to be walking in a nonchalant manner, they all suddenly scurried away at one moment. They wanted to make it appear cool before they started to run for their lives. The boy was nice enough to even warn them before deciding to go through with his plan. Kakarot then turned around, his anger starting to build. "And as for you..." Gohan himself could sense the boy's anger rising. "You're all the very cause for me getting ostracized from my family..." the boy twitched, trying to maintain his rage. It was rare he showed outright rage. He swallowed hard. "I won't ever forgive any of you..."

Gohan had no idea how strong Kakarot was now, but he'd try to fight him. "I won't stand by and let you harm us," Gohan told. He then continued to speak. "Besides...I can read you well. You're not capable of killing, even if you had to force yourself to do so."

"Right," Yamcha stepped up aside Gohan. "Two against one kid. You're going to lose."

Kakarot eyed them both down. 'Fighting these two guys like the way I am would just be a waste of my time...' And perhaps his own life. He knew he stood no chance against someone like Gohan in his current state. And having an ally by the old man's side wouldn't do Kakarot any help. The boy had the great urge to simply lift his head into the sky and gaze upon the full moon, which was practically calling to him. Letting himself into to his natural urges, Kakarot did just that. His eyes were placed on the moon. "Now it's going to be two ants versus a dinosaur." From the moment Kakarot looked at them, the moon placed a hypnotizing effect onto his body. He wouldn't be able to remove his gaze even if he so desired. The roots of his species called to him. The blood in his body began to rush at fast speeds and he could feel it flowing through every part of his body.

"W-what's wrong with him?" Bulma asked, curious. She and the others were all bewildered as to what was taking place. The kid was staring at the moon as if he was having a one on one conversation with it.

Everyone could notice a change coming about from the boy. "I have a feeling we're just about to find out," Oolong responded.

The very armor Kakarot had on his body were of a different material. As the muscles in his entire body began to increase, his armor managed to fit the size. Everyone surrounding him took notice and were wide-eyed as he suddenly bulked up. He started to increase in height, his body changing all over. The very first noticeable thing was his eyes, which started to turn into a deep red, the same color as the Dragon that appeared before them. His teeth grew into razor-sharp fangs, equal to that of a beast on unapproached lands. Fur began to grow all over his body. Everyone was silenced as Kakarot slowly grew from a small kid into a beast that slowly continued to grow far past twenty feet. Everyone's head shifted up as the monster continued to increase in size. Before they knew it, they all had their eyes set upon a one hundred foot tall monstrous ape that would usually only be seen in nightmares for some normal people.

The beast roared so loud through the skies that even Pilaf and the others could hear. The echo of his sonorous yell could be heard from even dozens of miles away "H-He's actually done it!" Soba exclaimed. From where he and the others were at, they could see Kakarot having taken form himself.

"Let's move it!" Pilaf ordered. He didn't want to be within a five-mile radius of the beast and wished to leave as soon as possible. "Those fools are as good as dead. If we're not at least four miles from that madman then we're all as good as dead, too!"

"W-What the hell is that thing?" Yamcha asked, shaking in his shoes. Never in his lifetime had he seen something so ferocious...so angry...so...monstruous.

Both Oolong and Puar quickly backed up, their increasing fear beginning to engulf their entire being.

"RAAAAAAAWRRRRRR!" The raging ape beat on its chest, displaying its dominance. He made sure that his presence was known as he continued to beat and roar as loud as possible. The built-up frustration from Kakarot was all transmitted to this beast, who wasn't going to stop until it felt like it.

"All of you run!" Gohan warned.

"What?" Yamcha asked. "W-Why would we do that?"

"Just do as I say..." Gohan looked back at the ape. "Get as far away from here as possible! Just go!" Just by looking at him this was all now out of hand. 'Such an adventure for simple dragon balls wasn't to become so dangerous...' The old man knew better than any, that nobody else but him would even probably be capable of taming such a wild thing.

Both Oolong and Puar used their special abilities to shapeshift into rocket ships. "Hop on!"

The moment Bulma and Yamcha both got onto them, Oolong and Puar both took off as fast as they possibly could. The sights of the two of them caught the ape's attention. Seeing its first pair of victims, the beast tried swinging at them both. Due to his slow swing, he missed, allowing them to carry on with their lives intact. "Oh man..." Oolong was sweating. "That was close!"

The ape beat his chest as his victims escaped, full of more frustration that it couldn't get to its victims. "Hey!" Gohan called out. "Pay attention to me, why don't you?" The ape looked at Gohan. It growled. "That's right," Gohan said. "Fight me." Gohan hopped into the air.

The ape beat its chest. Subsequently, he swung his arms. Gohan didn't expect such a big monster to swing so fast at him. Before he was able to shift his own body, Gohan was hit dead on by the hardened palm of the ghastly primate. Gohan went spinning in the sky, twirling in circles at near sonic speeds. The ape grabbed him, the entirety of his hand covering Gohan's body and threw him right into the ground.

"ARGH!" Gohan felt an immense pain go through his spine. "I-I..." He looked ahead. "I can't feel my legs!" Gohan tried his best to pull himself back up but to no avail. The ape beat its chest and roared at the moon. His roar, as well as the incessant beating, shook the ground that Gohan was seemingly stuck on. The old man could feel the vibrations of the ground, which felt like it wanted to crack. He put his attention back to the fallen Gohan. "So this is it..." He could barely bring up his upper body. "G-Argh...!" After trying for the last time to push himself back up, the old martial artist simply gave in, collapsing to the ground.

Every foot the ape took was everytime the ground shook more and more. Pillars from afar all collapsed. The castle itself looked like it was on the brink of falling into pieces. He grabbed Gohan and picked him up by his foot with his index and thumb. He raised the old man to where he was close up near his face, just yards away from his wet snout. The opened its mouth wide and let out a loud yell into Gohan's face. The pressure of the beast's hot breath had Gohan's old skin flapping a bit. The man could barely close his eyes. He also couldn't withstand the dirty smell. He stared into Gohan's eyes. "I..." The ape opened its mouth, trying its best to form words. "I eat...you!"

Gohan remained silent. He knew well enough no miracles would come around this time and save him. He merely accepted his fate as the ape picked him up and opened his mouth wide. The ape roared and beat its chest prior to dropping Gohan into his mouth. "ARGHHHHHHHH!" His vocals were loud enough to have the castle fall into pieces. "RARGHHHHHHH!"

The beast munched on the body of the old man, his jaws moving up and down. The weakened bones in Gohan's body all crushed piece by piece as he was being eaten alive. The man was dead at the first bite. He made sure to not go out crying or screaming.

Kakarot continued his rampage through the entire night. There being nothing left to stop him, the primate ran amok until the sun came up.

 **The next morning.**

The bright sun shone its rays down onto the ground. For the day, there was complete silence. It is totally peaceful, one wouldn't make the assumption that something as terrible as a monstrous ape rampaging through the night took place. But just by looking, one can say so. The castle Pilaf and the others lived in for years was crushed to total pieces. Pillars of the area were all crumbled as well. Some blood tainted the grounds that Kakarot lied on. The Saiyan boy was out like a light. The armor he wore expanded in size as he grew as well. He remained in his clothing, which went unscathed. Once the increasing heat of the sun found its way onto him, Kakarot began to move around. He got on his two feet and yawned, stretching his arms out. He looked around, there being nothing but total destruction. He grinned as he knew he made a job well done. He looked at his surroundings. "Even the castle is no more..." Not being able to see anyone else around Kakarot figured he had killed everyone before him.

As much as he'd hate to admit it, Kakarot could never bring it to himself to kill someone without transforming under the full moon. He felt he didn't develop that type of courage yet. Or that he shouldn't kill period. But each time he transformed, he felt the little more control he had over it. And the more responsible he felt. Just thinking about it made the boy's stomach churn. "Tch!" Kakarot turned away from the scenery.

And for miles and miles, Kakarot had walked. He walked so far and made it into a seemingly remote area. It was way past noon. The boy started getting groggy.

GRUMBLE

"Argh..." Kakarot came to a stop and clutched his stomach. "I'm hungry..." He tried to put up with it and walk on, but he just couldn't. The amount of strength he had was diminishing, and fairly quickly. Without any control, the boy fell right on his face, passing out.

Not afar he was spotted by someone, who happened to watch him the entire time. He was an old man, who wore shades and had the hat of a crane placed over his head. With his own gi, he had a kanji on it, representing himself. The old man made his way over to Kakarot, who he felt kind of interested in. "A tired monkey boy..." the scrutinized over the boy. He picked him up by the tail and dangled him. "Not every day I get to see something like this."

Kakarot groaned. "L-Let me go..." Even while his strength was slipping, Kakarot had a bit of consciousness left in him.

The man chuckled. "Or what?"

"I-I'll make you..." Kakarot was basically sending empty threats at this point. He and this stranger knew he wasn't capable of doing anything to anybody. He was far too weak to do anything. He couldn't even walk.

"OOH, a threat!" He shades glistened for a split second.. "You do realize you're in the middle of nowhere. The only people around here are my students and they wouldn't even care if I killed you right now."

Kakarot groaned. "I'll kill you first...!" His droopy facial expression and tone of voice didn't match the threats he was sending at all. In fact, saying such things in the condition he was in made him simply appear weaker than what he was. However, the man took a liking to Kakarot's way with words.

"ohh..." he was rather intrigued by Kakarot's retort. "A boy not afraid to kill." He snickered. "Most of my current students can't break a few bones without puking. Perhaps I can turn you into a fine warrior myself."

"W-Who are you?" Kakarot asked.

"Before I even answer you. I'm going to give you two options, kid. Your first one is to come with me and have yourself be molded into the warrior I picture you becoming. Or two...I let you down here and have you die slowly. I'll even have some food and a drink and watch you groan in pain." Kakarot gave off a weak growl. "So...what's it going to be?"

"O-Option...one." Kakarot was far too drained to utter another word.

The man smirked. "Smart kid. Hehehehe...now, to answer your question. I'm Tsuru sennin, your new master."


	4. The Debut

Blackness. At least, this was what it was momentarily. The total blackness of infinite space was then filled by something-a face. Kakarot could see the very face of a man that looked just like him. Alongside him was his mother. "Kakarot..." Both looked at the boy as if he was still the toddler. Kakarot didn't remember much of the time when his parents had sent him off Planet Vegeta to earth. But this brought it all back in just a flash. And he felt himself being levitated into the air against his own will. The faces of his parents turned into the red ruby planet he was born on. The sight was beautiful. But the beautiful sight turned into fireworks as it was blown up. The boy heard loud Oozaru like roars. And the face of a man...he never met. The small creature smirked at him and shot a beam right from his eyes.

"WHA-!" Kakarot jumped up. The boy was wide awake now and sweating bullets. His heart was pounding. The dream seemed all too surreal for him. Capturing his awareness, Kakarot started to notice that he was in an entirely different area. The last thing he remembered was being picked up by some old man before falling out of consciousness. He looked around. The room was very small, as well as the cotton bed he was on. "W-Where am I?" Kakarot wiped the sweat from his face. The room he was in was quite simple. There was the cot he lied on and a counter that was just a couple of yards to his left. At the ceiling was a fan, which brought cool air in the naturally humid inducing space.

"Good thing...you're finally awake." Tsuru opened the curtains that were just ahead of Kakarot, revealing himself to the young boy. "My fellow students have been expecting your arrival ever since I told them about you." He turned back to face the curtains, his hands placed behind his back. "Come. We haven't got all day."

Before the man could walk out he heard a loud grumble from behind. He turned around to see Kakarot rubbing his stomach, a pained expression on his face. "Do you have any food?"

Tsuru sighed. The man wanted to get straight to business. He was quite anxious to see just how his other students would be able to hold up against the new disciple. "Sushi and noodles will be prepared in a few." He looked back to Kakarot. "But don't expect to get this treatment, brat. I'll need you at full power to see just how well you can do against the others. Also...your change of clothes is in the drawer next to you. Don't bother coming out with that disgusting outfit on." The only thing in Tsuru's head was how well of a fighter this kid was. He wondered if he'd have to teach him from scratch like many of the others. And if so, then he'd simply be another dead weight. Something told him that this kid was something special. He just needed to see the boy in action to confirm his intuitive feelings.

Kakarot raised an eyebrow. He couldn't start asking any questions because Tsuru was so quick to leave the room. The boy remained seated on his behind for a few seconds longer, so many questions running through his head. There were so many that he started to get migraines. The boy shook his head, erasing those thoughts from memory at the current moment. What he needed to focus on right now was fuel, which to him, was food.

He made sure to get dressed in the Gi provided for him prior to exiting the room and entering the dining room.

In the dining room Kakarot was eating up a storm. A few surrounding students stopped eating themselves and had their eyes glued to Kakarot, who didn't care about the attention he was receiving. None had expected such an appetite from a small kid. From behind two other students watched Kakarot, though not with the same shocked and disgusted expression as the others. Both just stared at him with an emotionless expression. One of the disciples were a bit smaller than Kakarot himself was. His skin was plain white and unlike many others, he had two large red circles on both sides of his cheek respectively. He appeared to have no visible nose like any normal person would. What he did have in common with many however, was the Gi he wore, which represented the Dojo they were all to be trained in. "W-Who is he Tien?" the little guy known as Chaotzu asked. Chaotzu and Tien were two other recent new students as well. Tsuru had brought them all in around the same time and intended on putting them all against his other fighters.

Tien, much like Chaotzu and Kakarot, was a person who seemed to stand out from most. He didn't have any difference in build or anything, but compared to most, he was different. Tien had a third eye which resided flat center in the middle of his forehead. For some, he was considered weird, and for others, he was considered special. He heard about the teachings of Tsuru and the history of the man's brother, Tao Pai-Pai. He aims to become an expert martial artist in order to become a legendary assassin, much like Tsuru's brother.

Kakarot set down just about his thirtieth plate of food. The kid continued to rub his stomach, which still felt somewhat void of food. Compared to how he was feeling much earlier, it was a lot better, although the Saiyan boy knew he could go about four more rounds of a dozen plates.. After finishing he had a semi-disappointed look on his face. "Man...that only filled me about half-way up." He turned to a fellow student, who was picking up the food. "Excuse me...but do you have any wine?"

The student was a bit older and had a bald head, just like many others in the Dojo. He looked at Kakarot oddly, examining the boy. "Judging by your looks kid you seem eight years old. I can't give wine to little kids."

Kakarot pouted. "No...I'm 12. So does that mean I can get some now?"

The student in training just shook his head, turned around and left. Kakarot was obviously a bit upset at the lack of respect he was being given by this stranger. "Asshole..."

"Tsuru sennin said to be outside as soon as you're done," Tien told Kakarot as he passed the boy up. He opened up the Shoji, that being the entrance of the inside of the Dojo. Once it was opened, he let the brightness of the sun find its way into the house.

Kakarot hopped off the chair, his stomach just about a portion full. He was possible that it'd be more than enough to be able to fight for a little bit. "I'm ready right now." The boy grinned. The only time he would truly fight was when Mai and Soba would practice sword fighting with him and learning how to shoot guns and other weapons. Other than that Kakarot had no experience. He wagged his tail, anticipating to see who he would face up against. For some reason, the kid liked to fight in general. Before, he never had a chance to really fight as much as he wanted, besides practice. Now seemed like he'd be given more opportunities. He went out and walked alongside Tien and Chaotzu onto the outside mat of the Dojo, which was square shaped and large enough to hold a number of people.

Once they both made it out, the two met a few dozen students of Tsuru sennin. Much like Kakarot, this was Chaotzu's first experience at training. The kid looked astonished at what he was seeing. "Whaoh...we're supposed to fight all these guys?"

"As a matter of fact before you, you all see 36 students. All of them are experienced in combat and will not hold back against you." He faced the three new students and looked them all in the eyes. "Each of you will be facing against twelve each." He turned back around and looked at the students. "These boys will not hold back anything." He chuckled at the thought. "They won't kill you, but if they can then they'll surely break a few bones here and there."

Tien knew this all too well. He heard of how much of a ferocious teacher Tsuru was. He heard the stories and mentally prepared himself for this. Prior to coming here, he worked hard for this moment. Now was time to show himself off.

"So...who'd like to go first?" Tsuru asked.

Kakarot was the first one to raise his hand. But due to him being short Tsuru didn't notice him at all. Tien was the one who spoke up and got Tsuru's attention. "I will," Tien announced.

"Very well," Tsuru spoke. "Enter." The master had his eyes glued to Tien. He hoped to see some promise from the boy, who definitely showed to have the determination to become a great fighter in the future.

24 of the 36 disciples all made space and exited the battle ring. Each idled themselves on their knees, watching the upcoming fight. Tien had 12 of them all surrounding him at once. Tsuru watched intently and looked over everyone, seeing they were set. At his word, they were to come at Tien all at once.

"GO!"

Tien eyed each of them, listening in on their movements. The three-eyed fighter rammed his elbow into the stomach of one of them attacking from behind. He blocked a kick coming from his side as well as a punch coming right at his face. He jumped up, avoiding a leg sweep from below. He kicked the first two in the face that tried to attack him first, breaking each of their noses on impact as they fell over on their backs. The last one that tried to leg sweep had his ankle stepped on by Tien, which was also now broken. He landed down, now only spotting eight others who still wanted to fight.

Tsuru was mildly impressed. Tien kneed one of them in the gut and elbowed the same person right atop his head. He grabbed him by the arm and threw him into three others coming for him. Now he only had five more to go. He ducked under a punch but received a kick to the chest. Tien didn't see this coming and stumbled back. Another one of them punched him in the face, allowing the other student to knee him in the hip. Tien grunted in pain at the punches he was getting. He then realized Tsuru wasn't playing around. These students he was fighting were all really trying their best to beat him to a pulp, striking as hard as they could with each attempt. Tsuru chuckled as he watched Tien growl from the little frustration he had.

Tien fought through the pain and rendered the man who kicked him in the chest a leopard strike right to the face. He heard something crack and knew he was done. Now he only had four more to go. Tien rushed in at them all and hopped off his left foot, kicking each and every one of them across the face. They all fell back hard on their backs. He landed softly on his right foot, breathing heavily. All of that took a lot out of him. But even still, he did extremely well.

Tsuru was now impressed. "Well done, Tien. I was honestly expecting less of you." Tsuru looked at the students, disgraced by their performance. They all crawled over to the side and sat down on their knees, their heads lowered out of shame from their performance. "So, who's next?"

"ME!" Kakarot hopped up. The boy made sure he was heard so he could get in this time for his own turn. The boy was truly excited to start. He recalled being double teamed before and not even getting touched. He had some skill at fighting, and he wondered just how he would measure up to students in training.

Tsuru acknowledged Kakarot and allowed him. "12 more! Come now!"

The other twelve were a bit hesitant to move after seeing how Tien whipped the others. Tsuru noticed their reluctance and made sure they knew what was on his mind. "IF YOU'RE ALL TOO SCARED TO FIGHT A LITTLE BOY THEN YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE MY STUDENT!" He pointed at Kakarot. "Now fight him!"

The students were all pushed by Tsuru and came up with more confidence. Afterall, there were 12 of them and one of Kakarot, who was the size of an imp.

Kakarot grinned. He was decent in the skill of combat. But he was more so trained with using weapons. He could also smell the fear coming from each and every one of the students. One of them laughed nervously. "What are you dumbasses so scared of? He's literally the size of a five-year-old. He's got nothing on us!"

Kakarot just stood up straight with clenched fists a few inches from his face. The first one that spoke earlier was the one who came first, a smug smile on his face. Kakarot just stepped over to the side, letting the man nearly fall on his face. He grabbed him by his pant leg and picked him up above his head and slammed him right on the ground. Kakarot knew well that he was stronger than the average person. Now he was beginning to see he was far stronger than even the average martial artist. He blocked three punches coming right at him. Two with his hands and the other one with his knee. He smacked both arms that were near his face and gave them both a quick punch to the face, knocking both of them on their backs. He lowered his knee and used his other foot to kick the other in the face.

"Four down in under 8 seconds...he just beat how long it took Tien to do so..." Tsuru mumbled under his breath.

Tien could hear Tsuru's words and hissed quietly to himself. He wasn't looking forward to being in second place. He continued to watch as Kakarot knocked away 7 others with practical ease. Kakarot then turned around as he sensed someone coming from behind. Using his tail, he smacked the last one right in the face, breaking his jaw.

'That's it!" Tsuru spoke aloud. The cruel teacher was bubbling with excitement. 'He just broke his face on instinct instead of having to force himself.' He grinned. 'That's the killer's instinct that I've been looking for...'

Kakarot went forth to the man who had a broken jaw. He kneeled down and looked at him, a bit worried. "Are you okay?" Kakarot truly didn't mean to do any harm. Over the years he learned to tone down his rowdiness. But when he fights he gets kind of too excited and does things he doesn't exactly mean to.

'Hm...the kid seems to have the instinct of a warrior, but hasn't grown to admire it yet.' Tsuru smirked. "Don't worry about him!" Tsuru yelled. "As a matter of fact, all of those who have been beaten must leave my dojo!" He watched as slow movements came from 24 of the boys. "NOW!" They all scurried and ran away. The last 12 were all sweating heavily, really fearful. Now they saw what a pint-sized boy could do, so they only imagined how strong Chaotzu was. Tsuru sensed the fear in them all and pointed his index finger out. From his index finger, a bright light was shown. "If none of you move in the next five seconds, you'll be found with a hole through your head!"

Tsuru didn't need to say much for them all to get the hell out of dodge. The entire area was vacant in just mere seconds. "I guess I don't have to fight..." Chaotzu said.

"Hm." Tsuru figured that Chaotzu was one of a similar caliber to Tien and Kakarot. He figured why the hell should he train over 30 students when he can have three special ones?

Tien looked over to Tsuru. "Don't worry about it, Sennin. Trust me Chaotzu is the stronger than all of them as well. He would have passed."

"I figured myself," Tsuru said. "Now that I have just the three of you, it takes a lot off my chest." He rubbed his mustache. "Not to mention I can teach you more."

"What do you mean teach more?" Kakarot asked. "Doesn't a teacher teach all he knows."

"Usually not," Tsuru answered. "Because if you teach someone all you know then that person has as much power as you and may be able to overtake you one day." He chuckled. "But I'm not worried about that. Because I know well enough none of you will become strong enough to face me. But trust me you two will be strong. Especially with the training, you'll be receiving from me." Tsuru began to walk off. "That'll be all for now. Expect a lot more of hell indefinitely for a good while. I'll make sure to get you fools right for becoming martial artists."

Kakarot, Tien, and Chaotzu were all left to themselves. Tien looked to Kakarot, who had a confident grin on his face. Already he was getting tired of Kakarot's attitude. If the boy was going to shove it in his face, then Tien would have to show him what's what. Not wanting to get in an altercation on his beginning stages of becoming an elite fighter, Tien left. "Let's go get some rest, Chaotzu. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow..." He and Chaotzu both left off.

"I need some food, then rest." Kakarot's first destination was immediately to the dining room, where his stomach lead him, of course.

* * *

"So he's dead?" Roshi sipped his glass of beer. Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, and Oolong had all just recently gave him the news. "I never thought anyone would have the power capable of killing Gohan. He was my best pupil." Roshi was an old bald man, well known for his skills in fighting. He was the trainer of the late Son Gohan. Hearing those news sent a cold shiver down his spine. He never expected his old friend to go out in such a gruesome manner.

Yamcha was a little distraught. "I went back to the area and found his pole..." He handed it over to Roshi. "Maybe you'd want it."

Before Roshi could even respond to Yamcha, they all heard a little crash outside the house. "What was that?" Roshi asked, peeping out of the window.

They all left outside to see a boy whose head was stuck in the sand. "What the hell?" Oolong exclaimed.

Roshi picked the kid up by his leg. "Who are you boy...and why are you here?"

The little bald boy smirked as he found his destination. "I've finally found you Master Roshi." And with the toothiest grin ever he introduced himself. "I'm Krillin..."


	5. To be the Best

**Thanks to MLPStevenuniverse, Mr. Cumis, a well known writer within the community, coolkidz, and last but not least Kara47.**

* * *

Elsewhere, fruits of other fighter's labor were beginning to be planted. On the calm and cool sunny area of Kame sennin's home, which was located far in the middle of the beautiful oceans, which were illuminated by the hot rays of the hot and radiating sun, old man Roshi was looking rather stupidly at two future students of his. "I-I said bring me a fine woman, not a little girl and her friend!" Roshi looked oddly at both Krillin and Yamcha.

Yamcha rubbed his head. In order to be able to officially become a pupil of Muten Roshi, Yamcha and Krillin had to go through some preparatory phases. One of them was to bring back a young fine, attractive female for the old pervert. But when they brought back two identical looking people, one male, and one female, Roshi considered that to be a failure. "But they were in trouble and needed saving!" Yamcha defended the two others. Yamcha and Krillin both caught two young teenagers on the run, appearing to be chased after by someone or something. Deciding to intervene, he and Krillin rescued them both

"We should have just left them" Krillin mumbled under his breath. Krillin, the former monk who came to Roshi for training, had lost a bit of confidence. From the disappointed tone of voice Roshi had, he felt like he lost all his chances at being able to become the most skilled fighter's pupil.

"Well...?" Yamcha rubbed his head. He then got in Krillin's face. "At least I was the one that went on and did something instead of hiding!"

"What are your names?" Roshi asked the two kids.

One of them was a girl and the other a boy. Both looked just alike although the only difference was the black and blonde hair they both differed in. The boy was the one with the jet black hair as his sister was the blonde. And the two of them had tattered up punk clothes, with an excess amount of dirt. "I'm Lapis," the boy added. "My sister's name is Lazuli." He and his sister were young, taller than Krillin, though shorter than Yamcha. The way they presented themselves was in itself showing that the two were run away delinquents, running from place to place, causing up mess wherever they went.

"To make a long story short," Yamcha began. "Some old pervert was trying to abduct these two and I just went on and helped them out. If not for me who knows what would have happened."

Roshi smiled. While he truly wanted a busty female to enjoy himself with, he couldn't deny that what Krillin and Yamcha did was very much so righteous. And that was something the seasoned martial artist respected most of people. "While I may not have gotten what I initially intended for, I surely do appreciate you being at the right place at the right time. So I'll let you both pass and train you."

Yamcha and Krillin both hopped up in hooray and cheered. The two were just on the verge of giving up, seeing how they failed to get what Muten Roshi wanted. But once Roshi unexpectantly said they passed, the two were cheering out of relief. They were going to train under one of the greats, if not the greatest. "About damn time!" Yamcha exclaimed.

Roshi looked up Lazuli up and down. The girl had holes in her jean pants and dirt all over her simple t shirt. With her arms folded, she glared daggers at Roshi, who didn't pay any mind. The old man was focused on other things. 'Just give it a few years and she'll be ripe enough for old papa!'

Having got enough of Roshi's lecherous stares, the girl took it upon her own to enter the old man's house without said permission. Her twin brother followed, rudely bumping Roshi's shoulder in the process.

Krillin and Yamcha looked at one another, their brows raised in confusion. Roshi fixed his shades and cleared his throat. "Alright, now! Let the real training begin!"

* * *

Throughout months of training, Kakarot, Tien, and Chaotzu were all being put through rather rigorous training by Tsuru, who sure as hell wasn't letting them get a break. Both Tien and Chaotzu were the ones being pushed to extreme heights that they have never been pushed to before. Kakarot himself was finding the training to be rather rigorous and tough to go through, but the kid decided to go and push on through as hard as he could, enduring his exhaustion as well as his weak limbs, which he felt was quickly going out on him.

It was a dark night. The skies thundered continuously as the hard rain poured down without mercy. The trio had all been constantly pushed further and further by the second. Kakarot had gained much more experience in the simple art of combat thanks to his new master. The ways of Tsuru's teachings however were rather the teachings of a cruel and merciless fighter, though he made sure they learned well.

Kakarot, Tien, and Chaotzu were all just barely standing on their own feet as they involuntarily went to catch their breath. "G-Give us a break." Kakarot's body couldn't take it anymore. The Saiyan boy bent over, placing his heands on his knees. Besides the rain that fell from his wet face, he could feel the sweat coming down, too. The only thing cooling them off was the hard rain that crashed onto their aching bodies.

Tsuru merely looked at Kakarot for a few moments, with a hard stare. Even if Kakarot looked into the man's face, he wouldn't be able to see the cold stare through his dark lensed shades. Tsuru then cocked his head to the side, looking at Kakarot like a confused dog, responding to him in a very sarcastic manner. "Excuse me?" Tsuru was training these men to be the best fighters he has ever taught and here Kakarot was asking for a break. To him, he couldn't find that anything less than insulting. Tsuru stepped up to Kakarot and backhanded the boy. Kakarot didn't see it coming and was sliding through the grass before he could even blink, puddles of water being splashed onto the boy's face, which had a look of extreme strain and pain. Both Tien and Chaotzu looked just a couple of yards behind them, a bit taken aback by their master's sudden actions. "Don't ever say such an atrocious thing ever again!" Tsuru was seething through his teeth.

"Get a load of this and hold it into your brain now as it'll be the only time I'll ever tell you..." Tsuru went walking towards the fallen Kakarot, who spat blood from his mouth. He towered over the boy like a parent would its child before scolding him, though as a dark, and evil shadow. "With each and every second there is of you taking a break, there is the next man not taking any and getting better. There is someone else out there working as hard, if not harder than you! Allow that and you'll only be good...not a great...always behind, in second place."

Kakarot's muscles twitched as he started to get up. With each movement, they burned and ached more. Knowing Tsuru, he would receive even further punishment if he just stayed on the ground. He wiped the remaining blood leaking from his lip prior to finally managing to stand erect on his legs, which were wobbling. "I don't want to be great..." Tsuru looked at Kakarot, giving off a blank, emotionless look. Before he could get to asking what were his goals Kakarot had ended up answering his unspoken question. "I want to be the best."

Tsuru smirked, taking a liking to Kakarot's determination. Out of all reactions, this was what he expected out of the boy. "We all have our very own motives to get better and stronger. I think we just may have found yours."

Kakarot nodded as he was ready to endure more of his intense training alongside Tien and Chaotzu. The Saiyan had a more fierce look before now from the moment he got up. He decided to push through the pain and break through his current limits, in order to be the best, like he said. He wasn't the only one to take this to heart, however. Tien knew just as well he'd have to push himself even further just to be remained noticed as one of Tsuru's top students. He did it for his own goals, though to make sure he remained at least on par with his secret rival.

While Kakarot, Chaotzu, and Tien were being put through rigorous training practically every day, the fruits of Krillin and Yamcha's labor were to be put to the test. They were all training for the upcoming Tenkaichi Budokai where fierce warriors from all around would be brought in to test their combat skills against one another.

It was just nearing the final rounds and the strongest people there were now being put up against one another. Yamcha himself was to face a man known as Nam. Nam was a man from a village here to fight for the sake of his people whom all needed saving. The two were set in a ring in the shape of a square, surrounded by cleanly cut green grass. There were blockades on four different sides, behind them being the people in the audience, all cheering out loud in great excitement, as well as anticipation for the fight. They had seen some good action moments prior and were ready for a lot more.

"Alright folks!" shouted the announcer. He was a young man, of slender physique and was never seen wearing anything else than a suit. His blonde hair was slick, though what made him liked most was his loud voice and how he got the crowd riled up in elation. "Gather around for this will be- no excuse me, should be very good battle! Two opponents whom have been easily going through their rounds like a hot knife through a stick of butter. So without further ado, LET'S GET ON WITH IT!"

Yamcha got into a battle stance, which was far different than his previous. Ever since he received training from the great turtle hermit, he had been fighting just like him. "Let's go Yamcha!" Bulma and Puar were both in the middle of the crowd, looking on for Yamcha. Bulma had to stand on her tippy toes just to watch, though she didn't really care. As long as she got to see her boyfriend fight, she was okay. Puar cheered on the scarred martial artist as well, floating in the air above the heads of everyone else just so he could get a clear view.

Nam placed his hand together and bowed, paying his respects to Yamcha prior to initiating their battle. "I do this for my people..." The respectful warrior only had the thoughts of his family and those he lived within mind. They all were in quite a bad predicament, lacking severe amounts of water for their land. He came to this fight in order to win the prize money and come back with enough water for everyone, who were all becoming greatly dehydrated and deprived of one of the great necessities of life.

Yamcha grinned. He had already gotten through his other opponents like they were nothing and was ready to have another bite the dust. After seeing the improvement of his own skills, Yamcha's ego and confidence were through the roof. The man felt like nobody was capable of stopping him. "Let's go then!" Yamcha rushed off against Nam.

Nam was slightly taken aback by Yamcha's sudden burst of speed, not expecting it. Due to this, he didn't get into gear quick enough, allowing Yamcha to lay the very first hit of the match. The former bandit scratched Nam right across the face. He then followed with a knee to the stomach. Nam still didn't have his guard up where it was required to take, and, or dodge Yamcha's attacks. Yamcha cocked his fist and punched Nam across the cheek he scratched him.

Jackie Chun, a fellow participant in the tournament amongst others, scrutinized the battle carefully. He was an old and short man, though very skillful in battle. People didn't even recognize that he was the great martial artist Muten Roshi thanks to the disguise he wore. He had a white patch of hair on his head to match his white Fu Manchu mustache. His clothes consisted of a black martial artist suit, that had a white trim coming right down through the center of his shirt. 'If Yamcha doesn't end this battle while he has the chance he just might not make it to the next round...'

"You ready for some more?" Yamcha's confidence didn't seem to be waning at all, yet only grew even more. The man was now starting to get a bit too cocky for Jackie Chun's liking.

"It's kind of fun to watch him fight," Lapis spoke to his sister in the crowd.

After being taken in by Roshi, both Lapis and Lazuli simply went everywhere the others did. Being offered an actual home with a roof to lay their heads under was an offer they couldn't deny. The two were much better dressed, wearing orange beach clothes, only things Roshi managed to afford for them. Though neither complained.

Lazuli merely shrugged her shoulders and ate her popcorn. "Then you haven't been paying attention to any of Krillin's fights..."

Lapis eyed his sister in an oddly. He figured that she had been talking about Krillin a bit too much recently.

"Let's just get this over with!" Yamcha exclaimed. "Wolf Fang..." He started to run his way towards Nam. "Fist!" Nam prepared himself for this round, keeping his guard up this time. "YAYAYAYAYAYA!" Yamcha began his spree of countless clawed strikes, all of which Nam managed to block staying on his toes. Yamcha didn't stop and continued to fight, this time picking up the pace. Nam was a put more on the defensive, though he still didn't get a complete strike on him. Perhaps maybe a few grazes to the cheek, but nothing more. Yamcha grew slightly more and more frustrated, finding that his barrage of strikes wasn't going to land at all. Wanting to end it, Yamcha decided to cock his leg to the side in an attempt to kick Nam to the side and potentially out of the ring.

Nam caught on to this upcoming move and avoided the kick by merely hopping into the sky. Yamcha quickly looked up, watching as he was getting far into the air. Yamcha sneered and hopped into the air as well to match Nam's altitude. His long hair was blowing hard as he was being further and further elevated into the sky. "What, you thought you were the only one who could do this, too? Hehe!"

"LOOK AT THIS!" The announcer yelled through the microphone as he watched the two continued increasing in altitude. "It seems as the two are having an aerial fight! I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before!" The crowd were all astonished at such things, though this only made everything better.

Yamcha and Nam both were near neck and neck as they fought in the air. Nam went for a punch, which Yamcha ducked. The same scarred fighter also smacked away one of Nam's kicks but was elbowed right in the face, not having seen it coming. He was hit with enough force to be sent a few yards away. Nam decided to let gravity do its job and let Yamcha plummet back down, nowhere near the ring.

"Contestant Yamcha's coming down! If he hits the grass, then it's a ring out! Just how will he come out of this one?" the announcer called out. Everyone watched closely. If the man was to land on the grass, then it'd be considered a ring out and Nam would come out victorious. Nobody broke eye contact, watching the martial artist's every movement.

"Come on, Yamcha!" Bulma yelled. Puar had his nails in his mouth, chipping away at them nervously with his teeth.

Yamcha looked down below and spotted nothing but green grass. "Oh crap!" Yamcha knew all too well that he wasn't able to fly. And with each second that passed meant the closer he was getting to being disqualified due to a ring out. Thinking intuitively, Yamcha cupped his hands. Jackie Chun couldn't help but smile in acknowledgment of Yamcha using his very own technique. He saw what Yamcha was trying to do from a mile away. A blue energy began to form in Yamcha's cupped hands. "Alright! I haven't mastered this thing yet but it should be enough!" Yamcha pushed forward the attack, which was a very thin wave of ki, though it had enough force to push him to the side.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" the announcer yelled. Never before in his lifetime had he seen such a thing.

"And you thought Krillin was better than this?" Lapis asked, his voice full of enthusiasm and excitement. "This is amazing!" The teenager had never witnessed anything so cool and heart racing like this in his life.

The Kamehameha Yamcha used managed to push him a bit to the side to where he would be able to land on the ring. Now he had nothing to worry about as he knew he was capable of sticking his landing no problem.

Nam could see he would be successful and couldn't just allow it. The Indian fighter hopped off his feet once more, this time putting much more force to hop as high as he possibly could.

Yamcha was far too focused on getting back on the ground that he nearly forgot all about Nam. He had his eyes out for the ring, where he was steadily falling closer and closer to. "Great...almost there!" He waited a bit more, keeping his eyes peeled, though not focused on his opponent, who was coming right for him. Alright...I'm in the middle of the arena...now I can land safe-"

ARGGH!

Nam performed a perfect karate chop directly to Yamcha's neck when the fighter least expected it. Nam took notice of how dropped Yamcha's guard was and would be a moron to not take advantage. Yamcha felt a sting go right down the center of his spine subsequent to impact. His entire body from the neck down felt too heavy to even move. Realizing this, Yamcha began to panic "Uh oh! Looks like the fighter Yamcha isn't going to have a neat fall!" Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they witnessed Yamcha falling at a fast rate. More than half of the people in the audience cringed when Yamcha had fallen on his face and bounced off so hard that his body shifted just inches off the ring and had him land on his back. His eyes were squinting in pain from the impact of the landing. His vision was blurry and eyes were too heavy to keep open. He could barely see Nam in the sky, who was ready to come back for him.

Nam put his arms in a crossed position as he began to dive back down, coming head first. Like before he let the gravity take its course, letting himself come down at free-falling speeds. He made sure to time his strike perfectly and with near perfect precision. If he was able to get his target the way he wished, then Yamcha would be out for the count. Bulma covered Puar's eyes as Nam's arms landed directly on Yamcha's chest. His entire lower body jumped up in an instant reaction the moment Nam's strike landed.

"Yamcha!" Krillin called out. The monk wasn't too sure Yamcha would come back from that one, though he was more concerned with the fact of if his friend was dead or not.

Nam landed back on his two feet and bowed in respect to Yamcha, who was completely unconscious. His eyes were still open, though they were rolled to the back of his head, only showing white. "He was a good fighter. But he won't manage to recover from this until an entire ten days have passed."

"Ten days?" Puar pushed Bulma's hand to the side and watched as Yamcha was motionless.

"ONE!" The announcer began the countdown. Raising two fingers in the air he continued to increase the number. Then he went from three to four and onto five. People all around remained in silence hoping that Yamcha would wake up. If he did, it'd only make the fight much more exciting. "EIGHT! NINE..." The announcer showed all ten fingers. "TEN! He's done!" He swayed his arms to the side. The crowd all cheered in an uproar. "Nam goes on to the next fight! An awesome performance by both fighters, but we all know that someone needed to come out the victor and it was Nam! Give him a big round of applause!"

Puar turned himself into a stretcher and went to pick up Yamcha. He passed through everyone, who looked at him weirdly. The cat didn't care though as he saw his friend in need and was going to be there for him regardless. There were assisting people which placed Yamcha on Puar's back. "C-Come on..." Puar was having a lot of trouble due to Yamcha's weight. "I'll take care of you!" Even with Yamcha's heavy body, Puar pushed himself to carry his friend to a safe place.

Krillin was a bit upset. He and Yamcha were both fighting so successfully together. After thinking about the next fight, he just figured that next round would be him against Nam. Krillin saw this as an opportunity to avenge his friend and smiled. 'This is my chance! To prove to myself just how far I've really gotten!"

The rest of the tournament carried on. And Krillin himself did not fail to disappoint the audience. He beat Nam with particular ease, thinking of his friend Yamcha, which pushed him on to beat Nam. All of that, only to fall short in an intense battle against the man with an alias of Jackie Chun. In the end, Nam got his water for his people that was needed. Krillin had figured he needed to push himself to get even stronger than before. After Roshi got the prize money as Jackie Chun, everyone parted their ways.

* * *

The tournament was very friendly and everyone had a good time.

Tsuru was just on the fighting mat in his own dojo, training his three main pupils. "Today will be a mainly light day," Tsuru spoke to the three. "We've recently been challenged to go up against another dojo elsewhere. So you'll need to rest all of tomorrow for it." Tsuru waited for a response. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, master!" Tien and Chaotzu both responded.

Tsuru eyed Kakarot, who merely kept his mouth shut. Before he could go and try to teach the boy some manners he was then interrupted. "Oh brother my brother..." a voice sung out.

Both the jaws of Tien and Chaotzu nearly dropped as they saw the figure before them. It was a man going by the name of Tao Pai Pai, the brother of Tsuru. "Tao?" Tsuru looked at his brother with a complete look of shock on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I have very interesting news you might like to hear." Though Tao was very much Tsuru's brother, the two didn't look that much alike. The first thing that people would notice about Tao was his killer beady eyes, which would strike fear into any person with a weak heart. Like Tsuru, his nose was quite pointy, though that was perhaps the only thing in common they had in the look department. As he walked towards his brother, Tao's long braided black hair swung from side to side. Other than his appearance, the one thing that stood out from Tao most was his pink Chinese long coat, which had the letters Kill embedded in it. This in itself showed people that he was a murderer, a murderous assassin to be precise.

Tsuru eyed his brother, who just looked at him with a smug grin. "Okay, well it better be good because I'm in the middle of training my students."

"Of course it's good." Tao chuckled. "It's about your great rival...Kame Sennin..."

"What about that old geezer?" Tsuru asked. As soon as he heard the last two word's leave his brother's mouth, Tsuru's interest was immediately caught. It had been years since he's even heard of Roshi. Hell, it was somewhat of a surprise to him that the old geezer was still out on live breath.

"Just recently two of his newest students entered the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. One of them made it to the very last round only to lose a semi-close battle."

"Roshi's still taking in pupils, eh?" Tsuru figured Roshi would be sitting in his home, lying around on his lazy behind. Just thinking of Roshi getting back to training pupils made Tsuru laugh. "Haha! Surely he doesn't think his students are much better than mines!"

"There's only one way to find out..." Tao turned around and walked his way up to a pillar, which was stuck into the ground. With a slight tap of his foot, he broke the pillar and carried it on his shoulder. He threw it far away into the sky, it being out of sight in just mere seconds. "Participate in the next upcoming tournament in three years and you'll be sure to know!" Tao hopped into the sky, making way to the pillar he threw into the clouds.

Tsuru was left a bit irritated, but also excited. "While that bastard will have to pay in pure cash exactly what he owes me, I can worry about that later."

"Three years of pure training?" Kakarot asked.

"Yes," Tsuru folded his arms. "Do you have a problem with that?" Secretly, he hoped Kakarot would talk back to him. It had been some time since he had punished the brat. He actually took pleasure in doing so.

"Yes and no..." Kakarot admitted.

Tsuru blinked furiously at the boy. "Come again?"

"That man called you brother earlier...is that true?"

Tsuru scoffed. "Yes, and what does it matter to you brat? You should be concerned with your training.."

"And you're exactly right..." Kakarot began to levitate into the air. Over his time with training, Kakarot had caught on with the ability to be able to fly, which Tsuru mentioned in past training sessions. "And that's just why I'm off to be trained by him." Before Tsuru could objectify Kakarot took off. For some strange reason Kakarot couldn't help but get a stronger vibe from this man compared to Tsuru. The Saiyan felt that there was very little more he needed from Tsuru, so he went off for the next big thing.

Tsuru growled. The man wanted to murder the boy on the spot, though Kakarot's speed was quick enough to get him out of reach before his 'master' could do anything to him. Tsuru raised his fist, as well as his voice, yelling out to Kakarot. "You ever set foot back here and I'll kill you on the spot!"'

Both Tien and Chaotzu were left speechless. "H-He knows how to fly?" Chaotzu couldn't believe it. Chaotzu himself used his telekinesis to push himself off the ground and fly. Tien himself hadn't even mastered it yet.

Tien was left with his mind-racing, practically dumbfounded. 'W-What did he just do?' The three-eyed fighter lacked complete understanding at the moment. 'Tao has to see that fool worthy of becoming trained by him in order to even be considered.' Tien grit his teeth. 'For so long I have been working my ass off to get to this point...and here he just goes off thinking it's okay to ask for permission!' Tien had glares of death in his eyes. 'I'll show him what's what!'

Tsuru spat at the ground. He felt quite a void filling inside his body. Here he just lost one of his strongest students within the blink of an eye. He didn't let it show and decided to continue on with training his two other pupils, conveying them the message that it didn't bother him at all. And that most of all, Kakarot was completely valueless to him...which was the total opposite. "Forget that freak!" Tsuru caught Tien and Chaotzu's attention quickly. "Thanks to the news I just got from my dear brother your training regimen will be pushed to higher levels! So don't expect it to be easy...it won't! And if you quit you die...understood?"

"YES SIR!"


	6. You Had One Job, Kakarot

Kakarot was making his way through the air, trying to go out and find Tao. He had just recently left Tsuru-senning in hopes for a better master to train under, someone who could make him better and stronger. Just having realized that the man's strength was great- far greater than Tsuru's he knew he just had to try and be trained by him. 'Where could this guy be?' Kakarot scoured the areas below through the air he flew over as if he was on lookout. 'This makes no sense.' Kakarot continued to look. He then looked down.

"Here's the money you wanted." Down in a remote area, just outside a village, a short and plumpy bald man handed Zeni to a man who towered over him. His face looked like one with induced fear, his anxiety through the roof. He wore a simple white t with jean overalls and boots.

Tao counted the cash that he was given by the man.. "I was sure that you'd get me 500,000 Zeni..." He continued to flip through the cash. Once he was done counting the money given, he looked back to the man "You're 5,000 short."

The man rubbed his bald head, lowering it. He couldn't stand looking into Tao's beady eyes, which just gave him the creeps. "F-Forgive me...b-but...I'll come up with it tomorrow. I've got a big promotion and will be getting a good raise of 15,000 dollars."

"Then I'll gladly take 15,000 as interest for being late of payment."

The man's jaw dropped. "A-Are you serious, Tao? Come on I still have a family to look after."

"I just killed your wife's secret lover. You know? The one she's been giving puff puffs."

The bald man frowned at Tao's response. "J-Just take the 10,000..."

"You should know me..." Tao glared at the man. Even without looking at him, the pudgy guy could feel the coldness of Tao's stare stuck to him. "I don't make negotiations. Whatever the price I set, shall be. Now...I'll let you know. Bring me all the money you get tomorrow when you get off. I'll be here right here waiting, too. I know exactly when you get off from work."

As much as the man was scared to say this, he knew he had to. "But I can't!" he protested. "I-I've got to do this for my family. Paying for my wife and children alone will cost over 14,000. Please..."

Tao scoffed. He wasn't going to just go off and let this man beg for more time. He was far overdue. Regardless of the person, Tao wasn't one to let a person step over his boundaries, no matter how small they may have been. "Then I guess you should have had your wife killed, too." With a quick flash of speed, Tao pierced the tip of his index finger into the man's cranium.

The little plump bald man didn't know what hit him. Just then his vision started to get blurry, blood oozing down his forehead to his face, rolling down his cheeks. He then slowly looked back up, barely able to form words. "M-My family..."

Tao grinned. "I'll take care of them as well. Consider it collateral damage." Tao began to walk away as the man fell over on his side, motionless.

Kakarot wasn't expecting this much brutality from Tao. He heard things about Tao from conversations between Tien, though this was his first time seeing something so gruesome and cruel. "And I thought his brother was bad...!"

Tao had stopped right in his tracks, having heard something. 'Was that a voice?' Tao turned around and looked up.

Kakarot didn't realize that Tao had heard his voice. Nor would he be able to leave before he would have to confront Tao. 'Shit...' Kakarot's thoughts just slipped into words and he didn't think anything of it until Tao was looking right at him.

"You..." Tao eyed Kakarot. He immediately recognized the boy from his brother's dojo. He knew all and well that Tsuru wouldn't just let one of his students walk out on him. Something was up and he smelled it in the air. "What are you doing here, boy?"

Kakarot figured why not. Tao already had him spotted and was speaking to him. 'Might as well. He's seen me now.' Kakarot descended down to where he could meet ground with Tao.

Tao placed his hands behind his back, towering over the smaller fighter. "Aren't you supposed to be training with my brother? Knowing him he would have rather killed you than just let you go."

"I left on my own," Kakarot responded bluntly. Tao didn't say anything, although he did have this look of minor surprise. He could only wonder for what reason. And Kakarot was just about to answer that before he could ask. "I want to be trained by you."

Tao was silent for a moment. 'This kid can't be serious? Is he really monkey branching from my brother to me?' Tao continued to observe Kakarot. He saw how physically small the kid was. Yes, he was somewhat muscular, though naturally chubby in size. "Afraid there's a no can do, brat. I'm almost too busy myself to take up a student." Quite frankly, just by looking at Kakarot, he didn't see too much promise from the boy.

"But you're stronger than Tsuru," Kakarot said. "If I'm trained by you then I'll be much stronger than he could ever get me."

"While that is definitely true, I just can't take any of my brother's students in. You haven't shown me anything yet, boy. Why should I bring you in when my brother hasn't even put in a good word about you? Hn!"

"I can fly," Kakarot said with a semi-grin. "None of the others can do so using their ki and I'm able to already. I'm a quick learner and my progress to be a martial artist is far greater than theirs."

'Not bad,' Tao thought to himself. Just moments ago he did see Kakarot flying. Not to mention, he has only been training with Tsuru for no more than ten months. Just what can he bring to the table?' Tao smirked and walked closer to Kakarot. The monkey-tailed boy stood his ground and didn't move. Tao continued near Kakarot until he was towering right over him like a giant. "And just what can you do for me?" Tao asked.

Kakarot felt like he just hit a dead in. One of those moments where he's reading a book and he's doing so well until he hits a word like soliloquy. "I-I can..." the boy was at a loss of words.

"Just as I thought," Tao shot back at Kakarot. "If you don't bring any value to me and my legacy as a mercenary then I don't need any of your help. And it's that simple."

Kakarot realized he had no other choice. He wanted to be the best. But doing this he would face obstacles for sure. "Then train me to be like you," Kakarot answered on his feet.

"Ohhh?" Tao gave a soft chuckle. "You...a little runt? Be like me?" Tao paced around for a bit. "Training to become a mercenary like me will take hard work," Tao mentioned.

"Show me the path and I'll follow," Kakarot answered. He gave a stern stare into Tao's eyes. There was no way Kakarot was going to take no for an answer showed that he truly desired to get better.

Tao stared at Kakarot, who stared back. Usually, many would never have the heart to be able to stare into his eyes, especially with his legacy being well known across the world. Many thought of him as a legend, someone just spoken of. But the moment people saw him was the moment they feared for his life. Kakarot wasn't giving off that same look here and he liked it. He knew he'd be taking a chance putting someone like Kakarot, who hadn't made any name for himself, under his wing. At the same token, Tao figured he could chance it. Judging by the brat's character, he showed some promise."Very well." He glanced over to the dead man he just murdered. "See him over there?" Tao asked.

Kakarot looked over there. His eyes were glued to the motionless body. The boy's eyes were stuck to him for a moment. There was still some blood leaking and he never saw such a thing with his own eyes. Never before had he been desensitized to the view of death. "Yeah." He then looked back to Tao. "What about him?"

"He has a family of three. A wife, a boy, and a girl. Very young, so young they probably won't remember their father by the time they're of age."

"What does this have to do with you training me?" Kakarot asked.

"Don't get testy with me, brat." He made sure to nip Kakaro'ts back talk in the bud immediately. Tao went by the man to pick up the pillar he had taken from his brother's dojo. "Somewhere in his clothes should be his wallet. And inside there should be a card with an address to his home. Find it and take out his family. When the job's done come find me at the Marriott in West City. I'll be waiting."

Before Kakarot could ask any questions, Tao took off. He was the size of an ant through the air by the time Kakarot spotted him in the sky "Damn." He was left scratching his head. "What the hell is a Marriott?" Kakarot spent the majority of his life living in a castle with Pilaf, so he didn't have much recollection of having to live in any Mariott hotels. The kid shrugged his shoulders and continued on. Kakarot tore off the Gi that Tsuru had for him, under his clothing revealing his armor, which he never really put away.

Kakarot made his way over to the fresh corpse. He pushed the man over onto his back. "Alright, big guy..." Kakarot crouched down and started to dig into the man's clothes. "Let's see what you got."

 _Just a few moments later..._

After stripping the man completely naked, Kakarot had all his clothes upside down and shook all of what was in there out. "Nothing in the shirt..." Kakarot threw the shirt behind him, which landed on the man's stomach. Next were the shoes and his underwear. "Here's the last thing..." Kakarot dangled some pants. Out came out some keys and a pack of cigarettes. "Okay..." And the very next thing to come out was a brown small object.

Kakarot picked it up. "This must be the wallet." Remembering what Tao instructed him, Kakarot opened it up and searched through it. "Hm...500 Zeni." Kakarot folded the money and placed it in his shirt. "Special service card..." He threw that out. "Vixens club card..." Kakarot threw that behind him. Kakarot then pulled out the last card in his wallet. "Alright...name is Big G?" Kakarot blinked a few times. He wondered what kind of name was that.

He pulled the card closer and examined it. One he saw an address, he smirked. "Found it. Located in Yahhoy..." Kakarot frowned. "That's going to take me half a day to get there..." Kakarot placed the card in his pocket and took off into the air. "Whatever. I've got a job to do." Not wanting to waste any time, the kid was zooming through the air.

* * *

"You fools think we're done yet?"

Chaotzu and Tien both just wanted to fall on their backs. 'I-I've never done anything like this before. W-We're in hell!'

Both Tien and Chaotzu were dripping sweat from their bald heads all the way to their very toes. Chaotzu was just about to give up and fall over on his back. Tien seen this and jerked over to his friend and made sure he stayed up. "N-No...Chaotzu. W-We've got to k-keep...training!"

Tsuru had a wicked smirk on his face. Had Chaotzu fell over, he would have indeed punished his pupil. He let Tien's assistance slide as he knew he was going to push them even further. "I'm going to tear you all a new one."

Tien huffed and puffed heavily. Even as he endured the hell he was being put through by Tsuru, the only person he could even think of was Kakarot. 'Kakarot thinks he can just come and shove his power in our faces and then run off to the next great Assassin Tao! That was my spot! And as long as I'm resting I know he's out there training harder than me!' "WE'RE NOT GIVING UP YET!"

* * *

It was now nighttime and Kakarot was sitting on his behind, taking a rest break. The kid had his hands behind his head as he lied up against a soft apple tree, surrounded by many more. A few crickets and other noises happened to wake him up. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched with a big yawn. "I'm kind of hungry." He sat up, rubbing his stomach. He took a few apples from a tree he was near and ate them all. In less than five seconds the whole lot of them were gone. Kakarot could see the area, not from afar. "I'm close..." Kakarot continued his route to his targets.

Yahhoy was a city located just out of Fukurou Forest, which where Kakarot took his rest break. All of the homes and stores in Yahhoy were very close to one another, though there were addresses labeled on each one of them for Kakarot to be able to see them out.

Kakarot hovered over all the houses. The streets were completely empty during the night, there being absolutely no street light. "The people must be sleeping." Kakarot looked at the card that he had taken from the man Tao murdered earlier that day. On the card was an exact picture of the man's house. He went back and observed the area. "Got it."

In that very house, the grown female of the household was sleeping peacefully. She didn't particularly mind her husband being gone as they were already going through problems. In fact, she felt much more peaceful sleeping there. He said that he would be out handling business so she didn't mind. This was a good night as the crescent moon shined brightly on their home.

"WAHAHAHAHWAHHHHH!"

The woman jumped up. In a different room, two of her young toddler children were crying. The babies cries were unusually loud, which began to worry the woman. "Come on...mommy's trying to sleep..." She exited her room. It was very dark. But she knew her way around the house.

She made her way through the halls. Each step she took the floor weak floors creaked. The mother of two made sure to be cautious with each step she took. Taking a turn she entered her children's room. Walking forward to her baby's crib, she didn't even recognize the small shadow figure, which was Kakarot's. The babies calmed down a bit when they felt the presence of their mother, albeit that didn't stop their crying. Kakarot watched as she checked up on them two, then in a flash, he was gone. The two kids were crying loud. "Hush you two." She picked them both up and bounced up and down to calm her kids.

She then heard a creak from behind. She quickly turned around, beginning to grow worried. She knew all the well that the father of her children wasn't there. When he was gone through the night, he never came back. The town was very peaceful, so break-ins on homes rarely happened, if never! To hear something like that at the time of night had her on her toes. "W-What was that...?" She made her way into the living room. "Be quiet okay?"

She noticed that it was brighter than normal in the living room during the night. At first, she figured it was just the moon as it illuminated greatly that very night through the windows, but then she saw the curtains were covering them. Much to her surprise...the door was wide open. Seeing it like that, she instantly covered her mouth, not wanting to make a sound. The safety of her kids immediately came to mind. The woman turned around quickly, heading to the room of her babies.

Running in such a rush during the night, she almost completely forgot about her surroundings. Her ankle was clipped by the table that was in the middle of her living room. She tripped over and fell hard on her nose.

"UGH!" She slowly picked herself back up. The nightgown she wore was a bit bloody due to the blood leaking from her nose. The pain was something she didn't even feel as she worried about her children. 'My babies!' She got back up and ran her way back to the room. Once she made it there the door was shut. This was all she needed to confirm that there indeed was somebody within her very home. She tried to open it, but it was locked. "N-NO!" She backed up and ran right through the door with all her might. The weak door made of wood broke off the hinges with general ease and fell over onto the ground. "A-Agh..." The mother of two hadn't expected to break through with so much ease and fell down on her left shoulder, which was now aching from the second fall.

She saw a shadow just on the floor below her. It was relatively small, but it was creeping the hell out of her. The curtains in her children's room were removed, so the bright light of the moon permitted her to see the shadow in full clarity. The main thing she noticed was the hair of the person, which stuck out in every direction. And something was wiggling behind its back. She was somewhat frightened to even look up. Oddly she didn't hear any of her children crying. The thought of her kids came to mind, so she did, seeing a simple child holding her own babies.

"Hello..." Kakarot greeted in a low tone. Kakarot knew there were many people around and didn't want anyone else to hear. It was hard enough he had to kill her and the kids. He wasn't used to killing without ever having to transform under the full moon. Unfortunately, there was no full moon that night.

"W-Who are you?" Her heart was racing, worried for her kids.

"My name isn't important," Kakarot said.

At this point, she didn't care about herself. The only thing on her mind was her children. "Let them go...p-please..." She started to cry. "I'll do anything you want." She had a hard time figuring this person out. The only thing she managed to see was his green armor, but for some odd reason, he wasn't all the much visible.

Kakarot remained silent. The two kids were fast asleep in Kakarot's arms. 'W-what is she doing?'

"Please!" She fell on her knees. She showed no shame as her nose still leaked blood, falling onto the floor of her room, her hands clapped together. "I-I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but please let them be! If you're going to do anything, take me instead!"

Kakarot eyed her, watching tears fall down her face. He stopped looking at her for a moment and glanced at the two kids he was holding in his arms. The Saiyan was stuck for a moment. Making up his mind on what to do sooner than later, he placed the two children in their respective cribs before turning back to their mother. The main person Tao wanted dead was her, but he knew the family would be a plus. Kakarot slowly raised his index finger towards her head. The closer his finger inched to her forehead, the more his blood began to circulate, his heart thumping a bit harder than before. Of course right now this person...was yet to ever kill anyone on his own accord and right state of mind.

A bright yellow light began to form at the tip of his fingers, though nothing else was happening. He knew all he needed to do was send the attack through the woman's head, but the ki remained charged, showing his face, which was full of uncertainty. It was as if he didn't know what to do. He wanted to get it done, but for him it just didn't feel right killing everyone right now. He wanted to fight, not kill.

'I should just end her right here...' Kakarot had thoughts running in the back of his head, so many that the pleading words from the woman was toned out of sound. Kakarot knew what he had to do, but he found it extremely difficult to simply go through with it. Giving in to his better conscious, the boy canceled the ki charging in his finger and lowered his hands.

Kakarot felt good, but also bad. He never killed anyone in cold blood with a good sense of consciousness. But he really wanted to be the best. And in Tao's eyes, if you wanted to be the best, killing would have to come along with it. It didn't matter the actions, whatever necessary that needed to be done, needed to be done-no questions asked.

"I can't..." Kakarot's hands. "I can't kill you..." He twitched.

The woman sniffed, letting out a big sigh of relief. "T-Thank you...thank you so much!"

Kakarot walked past her. Before he exited the door, he stopped, his back facing hers. "It's best you go to your husband's job and get his money tomorrow morning. Once you do go somewhere remote...where nobody, not even I can find you."

"What about my husband?" She asked, relieved. "He can get it for us."

"What husband?" Sharing no more, the Saiyan boy walked out the door. He figured he would leave the woman to decipher exactly what he meant. Kakarot exited the door and shot off into the sky. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. 'I feel like I'm going to puke...'

* * *

The very next day the sun was shining bright and the day was lively again. Kakarot figured a way to put his actions behind him. He made his way to west city, which was where Tao had directed him to go. Kakarot wasn't quite used to the city, which was filled with busy people honking horns every few seconds and crowds of people walking, a lot bumping into one another. Unfortunately, he was caught up into all of this. And thanks to not being accustomed to such things, he found himself becoming easily aggravated. "Where could he be?" Kakarot was like a small fish in a shark's world. He tapped a lady on the shoulder. "Excuse me."

The young woman had a wide smile on her face. "Yes, dear?"

"Where's the Marriott located?"

The woman chuckled. "Oh, you're a silly one aren't you?" She looked to her right. "We're already here, hun." She pointed to the building. "Are you lost?" Seeing how Kakarot was just a little boy, the size of an eight-year-old, she bent over, facing him.

Kakarot shook his head, now knowing where he needed to go. "Thanks." Repaying the woman, Kakarot placed the 500 Zeni in her bra. The woman was left blinking, seeing how a kid just placed his hands down into her interior clothing. Kakarot made his way up the stairs and into the sliding doors to enter the Marriott.

The receptionist at the counter saw that a kid had just entered and wondered what he could be there for. "Are you looking for someone?" he asked. He knew Kakarot wasn't one of the people registered just by his appearance.

"Yes," Kakarot said. "Is Tao Pai Pai here?"

The man's eyes widened. He had just met the man a day ago. He knew of the man's reputation and wondered what the hell could a kid have to do with a deadly assassin like him. "T-Tao Pai Pai?"

"I don't think I stuttered," Kakarot said, his tone of voice very stern.

"W-Well yes. Of course, he is."

"Which room is he in?" Kakarot wagged his tail, quite anxious to see Tao.

"He's in room Z-3-122. The highest floor with the highest view."

"I need to see him," Kakarot told him.

"Well...I sort of need his permission."

Kakarot's patience was now wearing thin. With each moment of not getting trained, there was each moment of not becoming stronger. Kakarot figured the only way to get in was to use Tao's reputation as an excuse. "You really think as a friend of Tao...I'd simply go by the same rules as any other person?" Kakarot glared at him.

"R-right!" The man laughed like an idiot. getting the subliminal threat Not wanting any drama of sorts to transpire, he decided to simply let the kid go in. "What a dumbass I am! Sure. Go right ahead. The elevator is right across from you."

Kakarot gave a wide smile. Just moments ago, he looked like a kid that'd bit his hand off without hesitation. Now he looked like a respectful brat. "Thank you!" He waltzed right over by the elevator and clicked the button to open it. Once the elevator allowed Kakarot to walk in, he did just so. As made his way to the highest floor, he was met with some music. He kind of bobbed his head from side to side, matching his movements with the rhythm.

Kakarot's pleasure to the music didn't last long as the elevator doors opened. He didn't expect to see Tao Pai Pai just waiting across from him, looking ahead of him with his hands placed behind his back. Kakarot would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly intimidated by this. One could only picture themselves in Kakarot's shoes. You expect to see a friend once they open the door for you, but as soon as the elevator's open Tao is just looking dead into your soul. "A-Are you the only one here?" Kakarot asked.

"This is the most expensive room to buy. I'm one of very few." Tao entered turned to the left, entering his room. "Come."

Kakarot nodded and started to make his way to Tao's room, which was at the very end of the hall. As he walked a door opened from his left side. Out came two people, two teenagers. Kakarot eyed the both of them. And the both of them eyed him. 'Those two look familiar...'

The girl whispered in her boyfriend's ear as she neared the elevator. "Was it that kid...?"

The man was nervous from the moment he saw Kakarot. He knew immediately who it was, but decided to say nothing. The thought of that kid turning into the monster he did that night had him very uneasy. He was even wearing the same clothes from that night. "Pft! Doubt it." The two entered the elevator. As he faced the young boy, the scarred young man's face twitched.

What Kakarot didn't realize was that they were the very people he thought he killed at Pilaf's castle. He could only assume they had a strikingly similar resemblance and that was it. Had his mind not been focused on other things, he would have noticed them for sure. But due to that, he couldn't be too focused on other people's world.

Because the moment he would step through Tao's door...would be the one to change his.


	7. Job Well Done?

"Training with me, you'll become a very good mercenary as well."

"I appreciate all you've done for me so far."

Both Kakarot and Tao took a walk in the streets out in the open. Tao had on his basic clothing, which caught a few stares. As for Kakarot, the boy was in his simple armor clothing. For the while, they had stopped on the sidewalk, speaking face to face towards one another. The area they were in was quite small and there, nobody truly knew of Tao, so there wasn't much controversy in the area.

In the passing time, Kakarot had been training under Tao, while also doing missions, with the objectives to kill each victim directed to him. But as it seemed Tao wasn't aware of the fact that Kakarot had spared every person he was meant to kill. And in the process he convinced them all to go into hiding, forcing themselves to go completely off the grid. A portion of the money went to Kakarot, who just blew it on food. "The tournament will be here in a few weeks now and I can't wait for the opportunity to show both Tsuru and his rival up...only using one student."

Kakarot grinned from ear to ear. Everything he learned from Tao was basically all of what Tsuru taught him, though much more advanced. The Saiyan boy already had the basics down, though he was able to utilize this skill set, actually training with Tao. The two would spar against one another from time to time and this permitted Kakarot's growth in strength progress much faster. He couldn't wait to show Tsuru and the others just how strong he managed to get overtime. "Sounds like a plan."

"But before the tournament is to start I need you to beware of two things." Kakarot stopped walking on the sidewalk along Tao. Both stopped, allowing people to move around them in the crowd. "One thing I know for sure is the fact that you're going to be in the final round...most likely against one of my brother's students."

"Right," Kakarot said. He went silent as he awaited for Tao to continue.

Tao, however, wanted Kakarot to take it a step further. "I'll need you to take him out for me."

Kakarot raised a brow. "You mean...kill him?" The one thing the Saiyan boy still hadn't managed to bring himself to do in the past few years.

Tao nodded his head. "I need you to show me that you are ready to truly become an assassin. Killing the strongest fighter in the tournament will have your name ring and from there on, people will come to recognize you as a true assassin. And from there, your own legacy will start. Even if the tournament is to disqualify you, it is still a win."

"But won't Tsuru be angry?" Kakarot inquired.

"Any person with a brain should be. Having one of your students taken out is no joke. Especially if he is your best. I support my brother, I truly do. But it's the fact that I need to know I didn't take you in for nothing. Because the very moment you hesitate to kill him...if it comes to that...will be the very moment I know I've made a big mistake in choosing you as an apprentice."

Kakarot slowly nodded his head, coming to understand Tao's words. The two turned around and resumed walking, fitting in easily with the crowd. "But what's before?" Kakarot asked Tao. "I know well enough there is at least one last thing I must do before I am to be registered for the tournament."

"Are you familiar with the Karin tower?" Tao asked the young boy.

"My former family mentioned it before," Kakarot answered. "What is it about?"

"Beneath Karin Tower resides a man named Bora. I was personally assigned to assassinate him and retrieve the Four-star ball that he had obtained. This group wants the balls for themselves to make a wish."

Kakarot's eyes shot open. 'He knows about the dragon balls...' It had been a while since he even thought about such things. During his journey searching for the Dragon Balls he only saw such things as a plus of spending time with his old family. Kakarot never considered it to be fairly known among other people.

Tao then grinned. "Unfortunately there is another mission calling for me elsewhere. The price coming from them maybe smaller than what the others are offering, but this should show me just how ready you are to become an assassin like myself. So luckily for you, you'll be going to Karin's tower," Tao answered.

Kakarot nodded. "I need a location you know..." The kid immediately thought of how he'd manage to pull this one off. All of the victims before begged him for mercy, which was something he gave immediately. So far he hadn't failed in doing the exact opposite of what Tao told him, he didn't see why he'd start now.

Tao pulled out a picture and handed it to Kakarot. "It's west of here. So just keep flying until you get there." In the picture, it showed a very long towered surrounded by sacred lands, which were mostly filled with teepees.

Kakarot scrutinized the picture before putting it in his chestplate. "I'll find my way off, then."

Tao watched as Kakarot flew off towards Karin tower in the middle of the crowd. People in the area stopped and watched the boy, perplexed as to how such a thing was remotely possible. "Can't wait to see him in the tournament..." Tao outright lied to his apprentice. Instead of having another mission of his own, Tao gave Kakarot a 5-minute head start before he was to follow him to Karin's tower to see how he'd go on with killing Bora. He wanted to see the kid in action before he truly saw him fight in the tournament.

"The tournament is to start in a few weeks," Tsuru said. "Three exactly. This will be your final week of grueling training." He smiled. Both Tien and Chaotzu were getting adept at Tsuru's training regimen. While Chaotzu hadn't changed a bit, Tien sure did. Before, the three-eyed warrior looked more lean, lacking the severe muscle tone that he held now. Tsuru managed to shape him in the looks of a warrior over the past three years. They were confident to make it out this week as well since they've already come so far. "The second week you'll all go under light training. And the last will be all meditation, to prepare your minds."

Tien and Chaotzu nodded. "I can't wait!" Chaotzu exclaimed.

"I admire your anticipation," Tsuru said. "But we take it one day at a time, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, Chaotzu go fetch us all something to eat." Chaotzu got back up and went off inside the dojo.

"Wait up Chaotzu!" Tien got on his two feet and went off after Chaotzu to assist him.

"No, you stay." Tien stopped immediately as soon as Tsuru said no. He slowly turned around, spotting his master beckoning him. "You and I need to discuss business...about Kakarot."

It had been years since they even mentioned Kakarot. Regardless, the brat was still there in the back of his head. Tien knew whatever topic his master was to speak to him about, that it would be of great importance. "I'm all ears, Master Tsuru."

"In the upcoming tournament, you and he are more likely going to be the two that will make it in the final round. Now when it comes to that I will need you to try and kill him."

Tien was wide-eyed. He got two shocks at once. One of the fact that Kakarot would actually participate in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. And the second of course was the fact he'd have to kill him. "B-But won't that be disqualification?"

"Indeed, but we go by our own rules, Tien. Show that fool that you're better. Wherever he is right now is the place you deserve to be. You've proved yourself while undergoing your training. And you'll make it all official once you rid of him once and for all in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai."

Tien nodded. Whatever Tsuru asked of him, Tien did without questioning. Even if that little conscious Tien had in the back of his head questioned his actions, he ignored it. He knew whatever his master wanted him to do, it would simply get him a step closer to becoming what he had longed to be for the longest. He bowed, paying respects to Tsuru-sennin. "Will do, master."

Tsuru grinned. "Thank you." In the back of his mind, everything was going just as planned. Unbeknownst to Tien or anyone else for that matter besides Tao, he and his brother had made a deal, which had to do with the fight between Kakarot and Tien of course. 'This deal should go on nicely...'

"What the hell?" Yamcha and Krillin were both almost out of breath." Like Tien and Kakarot, Krillin and Yamcha were both preparing for the tournament. Their Master Roshi made sure to keep pushing them as much as he could, regardless if the tournament was simply three weeks away or not.

"T-Those milk deliveries..." His tongue was literally out like a dog. "They were easier before Master decided to add the extra weight." He and Yamcha were both exhausted. When they did get used to Roshi's training, they had to do it again, though with heavy turtle shells. The more accustomed they got to those shells, the heavier the shells on their back got. It seemed that there were truly no boundaries with Roshi's training.

"Ohohoho, you still think we're done? "We still have some digging to do, you know."

"Ah, crap."

Not from afar Lapis and Lazuli were going on, watching as Krillin and Yamcha had to do practically everything. They walked with them as they carried milk and everything else, but didn't do any work at all.

"Come on, we still have three weeks left, chumps. Surely you can make room for more, no?" Lapis chuckled.

"Why don't you guys enter the tournament?" Krillin asked through large huffs.

"Y-Yeah," Yamcha egged on.

Lazuli had a smug look on her face. "We're okay. We rather watch the two of you suffer."

Roshi pushed his glasses into his face. "You know you two can probably join and make it to the first round at the very least."

"What makes you even think that?" Lapis asked. "We're not expert martial artists."

"Indeed you aren't," Roshi agreed. "But I know potential when I see it. Not to mention you two going everywhere we go has made you go through some work. Walking all those steps even without milk requires a good bit of stamina. Staying all day in the heat with these two has to do with a bit of endurance...as well as swimming away from sharks."

Lazuli and Lapis grinned. "I love pissing off those sharks."

Lazuli laughed.

The old man saw that neither was truly taking the matter seriously and changed the topic back to what he initiated before. "I'm just stating the obvious," Roshi pointed out. "I can see you two fighting alongside one another."

Lazuli waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah. I think Krillin and Yamcha has had enough of a big break. Let's continue on."

"N-No," Yamcha protested. "Keep on talking, please. I'd love to hear more!"

Krillin had a weird smile. "Haha, yeah! This is interesting...keep it up!"

"Nice try," Roshi remarked. "But they're right. We're going right to digging."

Yamcha and Krillin hung their heads low. "Aww man...!"

"Hehehehehe..."

"We're going to stay over here," Lapis said, laughter coming out mid-sentence.

"Not coming this time?" Roshi asked.

Lazuli pulled out a soccer ball. "We're going to have some fun while you kill those two."

"Well, okay then!" Roshi waved and left. "Let's go you two!"

Krillin and Yamcha were both completely miserable as they followed their master. Lapis and Lazuli were each left alone as the three eventually left the area. "Wanna head over to the beach?" Lapis asked.

"Nah...green grass is fine," Lazuli responded. She threw the soccer ball his way.

Lapis was quick and stopped the soccer ball by hitting it with his knee. The ball bounced by his face and he butted it back over to Lazuli. "Do you think it's true?" Lapis asked.

Lazuli raised her leg, letting the ball hit the anterior section of her leg. She waited for the ball to bounce back off the ground and punted it back over to Lapis. "About us fighting?"

Lapis turned around and began to run. "Yeah!" he answered out loud. He hopped into the air and turned around, waiting for the ball to near him. With a hard roundhouse kick, it was sent flying right back to his twin sister. "Saying that we can actually fight?" he asked, landing softly on two feet.

"I don't know." Lazuli caught the ball. "I do feel like beating up on Krillin sometimes, but I know he's way too strong for me to even face him."

"And I really want to kick Yamcha in the balls every noun and then," Lapis responded. "Honestly he gets on my nerves sometimes."

Lapis chuckled. Without warning, she threw the ball right at her brother's face. "Heads up!"

Lapis moved his head to the side, letting the ball fly right past his ear. "Too slow."

"Go get it, dopehead."

"Nuh uh," Lapis protested. "You threw it, you missed. You go get it."

Lazuli growled. "Fine." She walked over to Lapis and bumped him out of the way. "At least I'm not lazy. You're far closer to it."

"Yeah, whatever." Lapis grinned. The two went on kicking the ball for hours talking about trvial topics, waiting for the arrivals of Roshi and the others.

"And why would I give you the ball?" A tall man of brown complexion was looking ahead at a little kid, who came in requesting the Dragon Balls. The man went by the name of Bora. He was a native Indian and dressed as so. His only job in life was to protect the sacred lands that he resided on.

"Because I said so," Kakarot responded. "I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt today." He held his hand out, motioning for Bora to simply hand over the Four-Star Dragon Ball.

"That's what they all say before they inflict harm on others," Bora said dryly. He looked down at his son, who was hiding behind him. "Get in the Teepee, Upa."

Upa was a small boy who looked practically identical to his father, spite his smaller stature as he was still just a kid. He did as his father told and headed over to the teepee.

Kakarot looked over at Upa and dashed right for him. He picked the little boy up by his ponytail, lifting him off the ground. Kakarot was too fast for Bora to even lay eyes on. The man turned to the side, seeing he had his son captive. He knew any wrong move and his son would get hurt. "L-Let him go..."

"D-Daddy!" Upa's head was hurting due to the insanely hard grip Kakarot had on the little boy's head. He wailed his small arms and legs around, trying to get free. Seeing his own kid trying to free himself so desperately merely managed to anger Bora even more.

Kakarot had a smirk on his face. He recalled the woman was begging him when he had her kids in his arms. From that experience, he figured in his own head that a parent would do anything if their kid was in the mix. Now all he wanted was the dragon ball. "Give me the dragon ball in exchange...and nobody is to get hurt."

Bora growled. "Let my son go first!"

Kakarot stared Bora down. Bora stared him right back, showing a true lack of fear. Upa was now silent, the tension in the air rising. "Hm." Deciding to do as Bora told, he let Upa go. The kid went flying into the teepee subsequent to being thrown inside. Kakarot and Bora could hear the clatter from the inside, which invoked Upa to cry out loud as he hit various objects upon landing. By noticing the look on Bora's face Kakarot could tell the burly man didn't take kindly to how his only son was being treated. "Now..." Kakarot held his hand out once more. "Give me the dragon ball."

Bora pulled out his spear and slung it right at Kakarot. Kakarot timed his movements perfectly caught the spear directly by the tip. He loved the shocked expression Bora had on his face when he caught it with ease. "Were you going to kill me with this thing?" Kakarot asked as he snapped the spear in half just using one hand. "Not a good idea, sir."

Bora growled. "Laying your disgusting hands on my son isn't something I'll just let pass by without repercussions." Bora let his large legs carry him towards Kakarot, running as quickly as he could. Bora had an entire arsenal of weapons on him. He took out a stone club attached to his waist and swung it at the boy.

Kakarot just blocked the weapon with his fist, forming a crack in the stone. Bora looked at his weapon, which was beginning to break. Seeing how it would be useless to him now, he quickly drew a wooden club and hit Kakarot right across the face with it. One would expect Kakarot's face to break from such a forceful hit, though the only thing that broke was Bora's weapon...for the second time. And to Bora's surprise, he was more shocked than before. All of his use of weapons were being destroyed like they were fragile glass cups in a box. Kakarot gave a simple kick to the stomach, sending Bora sliding on his back.

Bora clutched his stomach as he lied on the ground. The man looked up into the air, squinting in pain. He could have sworn that something in there broke. He knew better to just lie there on his back helpless. He had to continue fighting.

Kakarot spotted him get up with a gunstock war club in his hand. The boy sighed, seeing another weapon being pulled. Honestly, Kakarot could see him breaking that as well. "Is that all you've truly got?" He rolled his eyes. "I mean, honestly...these little weapons you have here...none of them have worked so far. So tell me, how exactly is that play toy in your hand far more special than the others."

Kakarot waited for Bora, who just ran towards him in response. Kakarot simply grabbed his gun, forcing Bora to struggle. Kakarot just stood there, holding the weapon. "By the looks of it, your best option is to just give me the dragon ball..."

Bora was straining all over. "Not going to happen!" His brown cheeks even began to get rid as he continued to try and pull his weapon back. With all those muscles that Bora managed to obtain over the years, they seemed to be no match for a 15-year-old the size of a kid five years younger than his own age.

Kakarot jacked the weapon from Bora with ease and hit him in the chest with it. Bora doubled over, spitting up saliva. The grown man quickly rolled over, still in pain from those last two strikes. Kakarot just watched to his amusement. He had no problems fighting people at all. He, in fact, enjoyed it. Bora came back up, holding a bow. He shot an arrow right at Kakarot. The boy merely smacked it away, splitting it in half.

"Yeah, how many more do you have? I can go on all day. It can get to the point until you realize that all of this is pointless. All you need to do is hand over the Dragon Ball to me and I'll spare you."

From afar Tao watched Kakarot's every move. He wasn't able to hear what was being spoken, though he could see just fine. One thing he didn't like was how Kakarot was toying with his target. 'Jesus, kid. Can you stop playing around and just kill him and get the dragon ball?'

Bora pulled out a metal arrow and aimed it for the boy. If this wasn't going to work, then the man didn't know what would. With as much force as he could, Bora slung the arrow at his target. Kakarot knew all too well this wasn't going to work for the opposing man. Letting his confidence get to him, Kakarot poked out his chest. The metal arrow came at him and only bounced off his chest plate, like a bullet ricocheting.

But what he didn't expect was for the arrow to go right back at Bora, who was far too slow to dodge his weapon coming back at him. He didn't have any time to move out of the way. In result of this, the arrow pierced right through his chest like scissors going through paper. Kakarot's eyes bulged in reaction upon realizing what he had just done. Out of all things, this was the least expected turn of events.

Bora fell over on his knees, holding the arrow that pierced his chest. He stood like that momentarily, staring into the eyes of his killer. Then he fell over flat on his face. 'S-Shit...!'

Tao had a wicked grin on his face. "That's quite a fashionable way to get the job done. Although regardless a kill is a kill. Good job, boy." Tao threw his pillar into the air and took off. None even knew he was present as he flew off from the scene.

Upa came out of the Teepee a bit bruised up. But realizing something had happened to his father he came out quickly, not even worried about the boy, who just stood there, wide-eyed. "P-Papa...?" Upa ran over to his motionless father. "Wake up!" He shook him incessantly, hoping for some type of reaction. Kakarot just stood still. He could see Upa shaking his dad, though his vision suddenly went blurry. "WAKE UP WAKE UP!" Tears streamed down his face like a river.

Upa found himself crying uncontrollably, his tears landing on his father's back. The sudden crying broke Kakarot out of his trance. He recalled what he was here for and spotted the four-star ball from afar and just walked towards it. He grabbed the ball and ascended to the sky. "I'm sorry..." The Saiyan didn't have the courage to look Upa in the eyes. He just took off.

Upa was left alone, crying hysterically over his father's dead body.

"Damn it all..." Kakarot grit his teeth. "I-It wasn't supposed to happen like that. I was just having fun..." He didn't have any intentions of ending Bora life from the get-go. Much like he always wanted, getting into a physical altercation was something he merely longed for. And taking it too far obviously showed what the circumstances would be as he let himself get carried away. He took a deep breath so he could start thinking clearly. He remembered Tao's words when he entered the Marriott with him. "Getting in this business...it's no joke." Kakarot sighed. "It's far too late for me to get out of it." He then shook his head. "But killing is a step...a step to becoming the best." Kakarot's good conscious felt guilt for his actions. But the boy didn't like the feeling of guilt, something he hated the most. So he lied to himself. He didn't say that because he began to see things from Tao's point of view, though to actually rid himself of guilt. For him, there was no other way.

The three weeks had passed and the day of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai was on the horizon. Loads of people pushed in shoved one another in hopes of being able to get front seat views. The last tournament was so crazy that people got to talking about it. Once word spread, over twice the people that entered the tournament last time came in, hoping to see those crazy stunts for themselves.

At the registration for the tournament was Roshi, Krillin, Yamcha, Lapis, Lazuli, Bulma and Oolong. Only three of those seven would be ones to sign in to fight as the other two would stick and watch. "We're really early today..." Lazuli mentioned. She and her brother grew a bit since the last time they were at the tournament. "Right, Lapis?" She looked over to her side, spotting her brother sleeping as he stood. "Lapis..." She didn't get an answer. She bumped him hard on the shoulder.

"WHAT!" Lapis yelled. Seeing her brother react hysterically elicited a chuckle from Lazuli.

"Well, you know what they say," Roshi brought up. "Early bird gets the worm."

"Maybe too early," Yamcha yawned. "That jetlag really got me, though."

"You better get into shape, Yamcha!" Bulma warned. "Or this time you surely won't win the tournament."

Yamcha just grinned as he scratched his head. "You already know I won't let someone like Krillin beat me, babe!"

"Is that a challenge?" Lazuli asked Yamcha.

Krillin chuckled. "Chill out, Lazuli. It's not you he's after. It's me."

"Yamcha," Oolong called out. Everyone looked towards the pig. "Sorry to break it to you buddy, but I think that even that little girl Chi-Chi we had met can you give you a little run for your money!"

"But you wouldn't last a chance," Puar defended his friend.

"Neither would you," Oolong shot back.

"At least I can hold my transformation longer!" Puar stuck his tongue out.

Oolong growled and folded his arms. "Pussycat..."

"Enough fussing already," Roshi said. "We've got to maintain focus."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Roshi." The gang turned around, spotting Tsuru with his students. "Any more of all your bickering and you wouldn't make it past the preliminaries."

"Tsuru!" Roshi called out. For decades Roshi went without batting an eye at Tsuru. For as long as they had been living, Tsuru was still easily recognizable.

Tsuru grinned. "Long time no see."

"Hey, you know this guy?" Yamcha asked.

"He's a rival of mine," Roshi responded. "Way back then he and I used to train under the same teacher. Unfortunately, after the Late Great Mutaito, he continued his training...though doing the exact opposite our master preached!"

Tsuru and his students chuckled. "Rival? Then I guess we're both weak." He walked past Roshi. "Sorry to break it to you but I'm in a league of my own now." Him, Tien, and Chaotzu each walked over to sign themselves up.

"He's kind of arrogant don't you think?" Oolong asked.

"As if you're any different," Puar whispered.

Oolong scoffed.

"Let's go get you guys signed up, Krillin...Yamcha."

"We'll be in the crowd cheering you guys on!" Bulma called out as she, Puar, and Oolong all walked in different directions.

Just after the minor altercations, Kakarot had arrived with Tao. The former had looked around, seeing countless people gathering around. The only time he had seen so many people was when he was in the city. "Haha, so not only do I get to humiliate my opponents...I get to do it before a numerous amount of people."

"Indeed," Tao responded. "Let's go sign you up."

"With pleasure..."


	8. Enter Everyone

_Going through the preliminaries was piece of cake for everyone. Kakarot, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu were all amongst the most impressive of the lot to be able to enter in the tournament rounds. As well as the man known as Jackie Chun. Now the tournament itself was just starting to get interesting._

"I'm still trying to figure out what the hell that kid is doing here!" Yamcha exclaimed. During the preliminaries, Yamcha had spotted Kakarot fighting some weaker opponents. He knew his eyes weren't deceiving him as he recognized the kid, who entered the battle with a simple white tank top and black slacks. Yamcha was out talking with Bulma, Oolong, and Puar before the real tournament started, staring at Kakarot in agitation. They were all looking at Kakarot, who merely stood with an emotionless expression. "I don't know...but I swear I'm going to kill that bastard once it's all said and done. There was no reason for him to kill Gohan like that."

"Whatever this fuss is about it's best you focus on the tournament," Roshi said. He looked over to Kakarot. "Gohan was a great friend of mines. I understand your feelings. But don't let your emotions get in the way of your fighting. We can worry about him after."

Yamcha nodded. "You're right. But he's going to get what's coming to him. Trust me." For Yamcha, this was the perfect chance for him to avenge Gohan, a person he greatly respected. He just hoped he'd be able to face the kid in the ring.

Back inside everyone was getting ready for the tournament. Kakarot was merely by himself, waiting as he sat on a bench far away from the others. 'None of these fools have anything on me.' He had to hold back a chuckle. 'But I hope it gets fun.'

"Still here are you, chump?" Yamcha walked over to the young boy, interrupting his self-mental monologue.

Kakarot looked over to Yamcha. 'I swear he looks familiar...' Kakarot started to examine this person to approach him a bit more. If only he was given a few more seconds then he would have figured it out himself.

"You don't remember me, asshole!? I'm the guy you almost killed when you became that monster ape thing." Yamcha had his hands high up in there, like hello! Yamcha himself still had nightmares about that one hundred foot tall, mindless ape stomping over the plains like he ruled the world.

"Oh..." Kakarot grinned. Those memories came flooding back to him. In past days, he would cringe at the thought of that night. But now, he only smiled at it, mostly to piss Yamcha off. "I remember you now. I have to say, I can't believe you're still alive." The boy was a bit self-amused at this. He didn't actually finish him off, but he didn't even care.

"Too bad you all are going to be wishing you're dead when the tournament's all said and done." Tien butted in the conversation. As he said that he was particularly looking at Kakarot.

Kakarot returned with a long and hard stare. Tien mirrored Kakarot's facial expression, their eye contact not appearing to break. Tien was intending on killing Kakarot if they were to meet in the ring, which was certainly most probable. Kakarot wasn't going to hold anything back once he faced Tien either. He, like Tien, knew what his goal was. The tension could nearly be felt by everyone surrounding him. "Just know you won't get away with what you've done," Yamcha said. The former bandit figured he wasn't to be brought into the mix of the nonphysical, nonverbal altercation they were having and just left.

Kakarot ignored Yamcha, easily putting him in the irrelevant category as he was completely was focused on Tien.

Roshi had observed everything, as he was disguised in his Jackie Chun outfit. 'Yamcha really has it out for him and the boy doesn't even see him as a challenge. It's probably best he doesn't face off against him in the tournament at all. Otherwise, Yamcha will be filled with nothing but shame in order to not avenge him.'

"Gentelman!" the announcer called out. After three years, the man didn't look as if he happened to age a day. As he spoke, he caught the attention of all participants. "Over here, please." The announcer.

Everyone walked up to the announcer, ready to do as instructed.

Tien was next to Chaotzu, who was just directed to do something by his three-eyed friend. As they all waited, Tien had Chaotzu use his telekinesis in order to rig who would fight against who as they took a slip from a box. Once everyone was finished the announcer was ready to advance. "Come up to the arena."

Outside everyone was waiting. The crowd was going crazy. Having seen some of the same faces from the last tournament, which was one of the best had them all anxious to get things started. "Ladies and gentlemen! The tournament shall begin now! All of this being just for your very enjoyment. Get ready. We shall present the eight finalists this time around! Now it's up to you to guess who shall win the 500,000 Zeni offered to the winner today! So we shall all begin the first fight with...Yamcha vs. Tien!"

"It's about to start, Chi-Chi!" A big, tall man, nearly 9 feet, had his little girl on his shoulders. Gyumao was a former pupil of Master Roshi and promised his daughter he'd let her watch him fight.

Chi-Chi went to watch in anticipation came here in support of Yamcha, whom she took a deep liking to. She and the entire crowd were all cheering on for the first fight between real fighters.

 _The fight with Tien and Yamcha occurs just as anyone themselves would have guessed...with Yamcha getting a broken leg and Krillin managing to defeat Chaotzu. (Everything leads up to the fights being as they were supposed to be...but Kakarot fighting Panput goes a bit differently)._

"Next up, the last fight of the first round!" The announcer called out. "Kakarot versus Panput!"

Kakarot, finally heard his name being called. The boy watched everyone else fight and got a bit anxious at how impressive they all were. 'Finally...my turn.' Sitting down he observed how the others fought a little, which was a good thing. But at the same time, Kakarot's leg was starting to fall asleep.

"First let's share a little fun fact about one of our contestants Panput here! He is known as the champion of two other worldwide martial arts tournaments! Here he comes with the goal in order to win the championship here and be known as the best to ever set foot on earth!"

"Oh?" Kakarot looked up to Panput. "So you must be pretty good then."

Panput, a dark-skinned male with a fro, grinned and gave a quick jab right before Kakarot's face. The young boy showed up in a boxer's outfit, with his hands wrapped completely. "Hm." He had the cockiest look out of everyone that has step foot on the tournament ring yet. For someone like him to enter two other tournaments and beat them all, he came here expecting the same outcome. Little did he know that this place would be on an entirely different level.

Kakarot then frowned. From seeing how slow Panput's punch came towards him, the boy was a bit disappointed. "Okay, I take that back...you're just an average fighter. You're lucky you even managed to get through the elimination stage." Kakarot then shook his head upon thinking about it. "No, labeling you lucky is far too generous." Just seeing that slow punch near him showed Kakarot just how easy of a time he was going to have.

Panput wanted to jump at Kakarot from the start, seeing how a puny brat was insulting his skills. "We're going to see in the match, kid! You won't even last thirty seconds against me!" Panput performed a few back-flips and threw multiple punches and kicks into the air, demonstrating his fighting skills. With one solid punch to the wall on the side of him, he broke it in pieces.

On the other side of the wall, Jackie Chun and Krillin both hopped over. "Eh, we get a better view over here, no?" Krillin smiled and anticipated what would transpire next in the battle.

"Alright! The tension is rising and I say it's time for me to get off this ring!" The announcer stepped down. "You may now begin the fight!"

Once the clang was heard, the battle was to begin. Panput was in his boxing stance, looking over his opponent. The crowd was completely silent, waiting for the action to start.

'Thirty seconds?' Kakarot thought in his head. 'This is going to be a short thirty seconds.'

Panput's light foot could be heard tapping as he was making his way towards Kakarot. "Hiya!" With speed greater than the average person, he attempted a direct jab for the shorter fighter. Kakarot saw this coming from a mile away and grabbed his opponent's fist. Panput was stopped right in his tracks. "Huh?"

Kakarot looked at his hands, then back onto Panput. "Good...at least you forced me to move." Panput was struggling to push forward, which was something that shouldn't even be happening due to the size of this pipsqueak he was facing. Once he thought he couldn't be more taken aback, he noticed Kakarot wasn't even moving a muscle in resistance. "But it seems like you aren't doing so much of that yourself." Kakarot tightened his grip on Panput's hand. Panput's face could be seen straining, getting redder. He tried his best to ignore the pain, though it was getting far too much as Kakarot gradually increased his tight grip. It got to the point where Panput was forced get on his knees, grinding his teeth. "It's been 15 seconds."

Panput was grabbing onto his own arm so he could break free away from Kakarot's hold. "I-Impossible...a-a mere brat!" Panpu tried to pull back, but all to an avail.

"Don't underestimate me merely by my looks, idiot." Kakarot chuckled. "Twenty seconds." The boy made sure to keep count, just to prove Panput wrong prior to humiliating him before an entire crowd.

"I-Is he even trying?" Krillin asked as he looked from afar.

"He's stronger than I thought!" Bulma growled. "But someone's going to bring it to him...I hope." She was disappointed enough already seeing how Yamcha performed against that fighter with three eyes. All she wanted was for someone to kick Kakarot's butt, but it seemed like the kid was fairly strong himself.

"Panput doesn't seem to be able to get out of this hold!" the announcer called out. "Panput, a very strong fighter, isn't able to free himself! Just who is this kid!?"

"So what do you think?" Tao asked his brother. "Is it possible he'll make it to the finals."

"Perhaps without a challenge," Tsuru said. "He's not putting forth any effort into breaking his fists at all. But Tien could do the same."

The two brothers came together to see how Kakarot and Tien would perform. Both had the simple expectation that the two would come to fight one another by the end of the tournament. That was the only thing the two were looking forward to.

"Thirty-five seconds." After the 30 seconds were passed, Kakarot decided to let go of Panput's fist. Panput was clutching his fist as tightly as possible, which was aching and completely red. His bones were so tense, the redness in his hands showing just how much pressure Kakarot put onto, barely putting any effort as well. "You said I wouldn't last thirty seconds...and it's been forty and counting."

Panput stood back up, growling. "How dare you!"

"Now it's my turn to make a bet." Panput grew silent as Kakarot spoke.

"Wow!" The announcer said. "Is this brand new face even trying? The mysterious boy known as Kakarot has no background at all and is completely outclassing one of the top fighters in the tournament."

"He's so dreamy..." Chi-Chi was day gazing onto Kakarot. She looked completely past his cockiness and bad attitude. All she could see was how "Handsome" he was. "He's better than Yamcha..." The girl was so quick to switch whom she liked the moment she looked at Kakarot. The boy was close to her age and much more handsome...so she thought.

"Uhhh..." Gyumao blanked at Chi-Chi. He knew his girl was timid and a sweetheart, though he didn't expect her to fall for someone who seemed to take pleasure in eliciting physical pain onto others.

"Three hits?" Kakarot just made his bet, informing Panput that he'd be able to put him down in three simple hits. Panput only chuckled at that notion, of course, not buying it at all. "You're a fool."

Kakarot didn't care that Panput wasn't buying his bet. The boy figured he should just let his actions speak for themselves. He shot in at Panput.

"He's fast!" Roshi exclaimed. Krillin was just as surprised as his master. The younger martial artist was barely able to get a glimpse of Kakarot's movements.

Kakarot rammed his fist into Panput's gut. He didn't see it coming and only found himself doubling over, clutching at his stomach a mere second later. He was holding his stomach even tighter than when he held his bruised hand, actually forgetting about the pain it did cause him. Kakarot walked over to Panput, who was practically drooling involuntarily. "That's one." Once Kakarot reached Panput, he backhanded him across the face. Panput was sent sliding near the edge of the ring.

"M-Maybe I should begin the countdown!" the announcer had a great look of uncertainty. Just from seeing in how bad of a condition Panput was in, he secretly felt obligated to throw in the towel for the guy, even though he wasn't permitted to do such a thing. Rules were rules after all.

"Not yet," Kakarot interrupted. He walked closer to Panput. The one who was meant to fight Kakarot was lying face down on his face, his own vision so blurry to the point that he felt he was going blind. "As you can see he is still conscious." Panput moved his hands to his sides in attempt to pick himself up. The moment he lifted his head two inches off the ground Kakarot rammed his foot into the back of his head. And that very moment Panput's face came into contact with the ring was the moment he was out for the count. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he was put out of consciousness. "Three..." Kakarot turned around and began to make his leave off the ring.

Tien folded his arms. "He's changed over time...far crueler than he was when I first met him. Could this truly be Tao's doing?" He still had memories of Kakarot's personality from three years ago, and he felt like Kakarot was an entirely different person from how he was fighting. There was no other explanation...this all had to be because of Tao's influence.

"TEN! Panput is done! Kakarot advances to the next round!"

"..." Krillin was speechless. "And I have to fight him next round, don't I?" A big gulp went down his throat. Krillin observed that Kakarot wasn't truly putting in a lot of effort in his fight with Panput and he himself could barely catch Kakarot move in on his opponent. He got much stronger over the past three years, though he wasn't sure he rivaled Kakarot's strength.

 _And once more the fights all went as they were meant, though with. Tien's fight with Jackie Chun was somewhat impressive, the two going at it for a while. The skill Tien showed Jackie Chun made the old man realize that the new generation of fighters coming in was too much for him to even keep up with. He didn't show any shame hopping out of the ring, disqualifying himself in the process. He knew from the beginning of the fight that his chances of winning were quite slim and didn't want to chance it since Tien wasn't even exerting all of his strength._

"Next up will be the fight between Kakarot versus Krillin!" The announcer watched as Krillin came up the ring. Many people in the audience were familiar with Krillin, back then just when he was a 13-year-old boy, managing to make it to the final round against Jackie Chun. "Now last year Krillin was the runner-up against Jackie Chun...the man who surrendered last round. But on the other end we have quite the impressive fighter Kakarot himself. Just who's going to turn out to win this one?"

"Krillin's made it to the finals before," Lazuli said. "He's going to do it again I'm sure."

"ACHOO!" Lapis let out a loud sneeze. Lazuli looked over at her brother with a weird expression, wondering if he was being genuine or not. "Sorry...it's just that I'm allergic to false beliefs."

"Fuck you." Lapis just laughed out loud.

Krillin and Kakarot were across each other from the ring. 'Yamcha and Bulma's description of the guy who killed Master Roshi's pupil hits the nail on the head with this one...not to mention I saw Yamcha fussing him earlier so it must be him.' Krillin got into a fighting stance. "I'm going to avenge Gohan's death in the ring."

"Oh...still on about him?" Kakarot asked, rolling his eyes. "Move on already. Besides you weren't even there to witness his death. And if you were then you'd be smart enough not to get on my bad side."

"Shut up and fight."

"YOU MAY BEGIN!"

Krillin came right at Kakarot, going for an attempted kick. Kakarot lifted his elbow, blocking it with ease. Kakarot moved his head to the side in order to dodge an incoming punch. He merely watched as Krillin tried to hit him over and over again, simply moving his head side to side, dodging Krillin's punches. "Is this how you're going to avenge your friend?" Kakarot decked Krillin across the face.

Krillin's eyes widened as he had hobbled back. He regained his balance and wiped the blood coming down his lip. Kakarot didn't pull any punches and punched him on the other side of the face. This time he had knocked Krillin down on his behind. Said fighter didn't see either strike coming at him.

Roshi, who was no longer in his disguise was watching. "No matter how far Krillin has come...he wasn't prepared for this...if only I had known people like this would enter." He could tell from jump that Kakarot was far superior to Krillin power. Even though it wasn't a nice thing to admit, Roshi knew his pupil stood no chance.

Kakarot went to stomp his foot on Krillin, but the young bald boy rolled over and hopped back up in an attempt to knee Kakarot in the face. Kakarot didn't expect Krillin to come back so quickly, so he pulled his head away as he blocked Krillin's knee using both of his palms.

Krillin came down and used his other leg to sweep Kakarot off the ring. Kakarot used two of his hands to stay on top of his game. Krillin, however, kicked Kakarot right across the face. Kakarot was sent sliding across the ring, although mere moments later he hopped into the air with a handspring, elevating himself into the sky. Krillin shot right back at Kakarot.

'Attacking me head on won't win this match for him...' Kakarot clapped his hands together and put his fists over his head. Once Krillin was close enough he rammed his fists onto the bald fighter's head. Krillin was sent flying down at free-falling speeds. He landed with a loud thud on his back. Kakarot came down...crushing his knee bone right into Krillin's chest.

"What is this...Krillin is nearing the levels of a superhuman, yet he's still unable to touch Kakarot. Please stay down..." Roshi knew it would only be worse from here on out if Krillin continued trying to pursue Kakarot.

Krillin could barely breathe from that last hit. The Saiyan boy rubbed his knee against Krillin's chest, smiling in his face. "Stay down and accept your defeat," Kakarot warned. "...or else." Kakarot's only focus was on fighting and ending the battle with killing Tien. All he trained for was that moment. Everything else was just something to do in the meantime for him. He hopped off Krillin and stood on the boy's side, his fists resting on his hips.

Krillin stood right back up. "N-No..." The stubborn fighter wasn't going to go down without having tried everything in his possibility to win. "I won't give up." He, as well as others, knew he didn't have a lick of a chance. Solely because of that, Krillin knew better than to simply give up. The determined martial artist had one trick up his sleeve. Certain loss wasn't official until he tried this one attack.

Kakarot glared at Krillin. 'Beating this guy is my ticket to the final battle against Tien...once I do that then I'm in the clear to really display how strong I am.'

Krillin cupped his hands together. "I won't lose..."

The man with the microphone noticed that stance as soon as Krillin cupped his hands together. "He's preparing to charge the Kamehameha!" the announcer called out, putting the audience on the edge of their seats.

"Come on, Krillin!" Bulma cheered on for above. The purple haired girl wasn't too sure that her bald friend would come out on top, but she was supporting him regardless.

Kakarot inhaled and exhaled deeply. Not allowing Krillin to continue his attack, he made his way over to Krillin and punched him right in the face. Krillin spat out a good amount of blood. Kakarot then kneed him in the stomach and grabbed him by the collar. Krillin was literally hanging as Kakarot had him raised, the tip of his shoes grazing the ring. He formed an energy ball in one of his hands, looking Krillin into eyes that he could barely keep open. During these moments he was contemplating on whether or not he should kill Krillin. 'No...I can't...' Kakarot was considering ending it all for Krillin. For the first time in his life, Kakarot said no to killing not because he didn't feel right doing so, but for a means to an end. He had the urge to do so, now that killing didn't even feel all that bad, but he had self-control. 'Even if he has a bald head like Tien, there's no third eye to look into before his death. And being disqualified right now isn't worth it..' Having made up his mind Kakarot just walked over to the side of the ring, dragging Krillin, who was too helpless to even resist. One Kakarot was at the edge of the ring, he tossed Krillin on the green grass surrounding it. With this, he won by ring out.

"And the winner...is KAKAROT! Due to RING OUT, He goes onto the finals...!"

Lazuli, Bulma, and Oolong were all in shock. "That son of a bitch!" Oolong exclaimed.

"He totally brutalized Krillin!" Lapis yelled out, somewhat shocked himself.

Tien had just got done speaking with Roshi. During their conversation, the older and wiser man convinced Tien to think about the path he was going. He didn't even know if he wanted to go through with killing Kakarot anymore. 'No matter how good the fight goes I'm still going to beat this brat.'

"The finals are next," the announcer told Kakarot. "Would you like to rest?"

"Why?" Kakarot asked. "I just got warmed up."

"Oh...then very well." The announcer put the microphone right up to his face. "So who will be the winner of this tournament? Will it be the one training under the master Tsuru? Or will it be the mysterious Kakarot...the boy who came out of nowhere?"

The crowd was never louder than before. Now two of the most impressive fighters were going to go at it. The two most excited were Tien and Kakarot. The crowd could cheer on as much as they wanted, but none of them were as anxious as the finalists that were beginning to fight themselves.

Both finalists stepped into the ring.

"Come on, Kakarot!" Chi-Chi clapped her hands and egged him on. "Woohoo!"

Bulma eyed her. "Doesn't she know that Kakarot is a little killer in the making? Why is she cheering him on?"

"Why the hell are you asking me?" Oolong asked. "It's probably just hormones. She'll get over it when Tien breaks his leg in two." Bulma smacked Oolong in the back of the head. "Ow! What the hell did I say wrong that time?!"

"Too soon," Bulma said with a huff, folding her arms.

"It's the final match of the tournament!" the announcer called out. He, just like the audience, was excited to see this fight. Never before was he so happy to have this job. He wished he could have it once a year if people like these would come every time.

"Finally..." Tao said. "The moment we've all been waiting for."

"Yeah...the monkey boy is going to win this surely."

"We'll see. If Tien wins then I get the 500,000 Zeni," Tao said. "But if Kakarot wins you shall have it...which won't happen."

"It's truly bad I realize the potential Kakarot holds over Tien and you don't," Tsuru said to his brother. "No matter how much of a bastard he is for leaving me."

"It's entirely the other way around," Tao shot back. While Tien trained under Tsuru, Tsuru always felt that Kakarot was much a better fighter than Kakarot. Tao, on the other hand, felt the contrary. He himself figured Tien would make a much better assassin than the monkey boy. The brothers both equally respected the two fighters fixing to face one another, but the two were merely pawns in their own little game. Thy went quiet and decided they'd let the winners of this match decide it all.

Both Tien and Kakarot both got into equal fighting styles. "BEGIN!"

So...who's going to win? All will be decided next chapter.


	9. Preservation

"BEGIN!"

The crowd was cheering on both Kakarot and Tien. "I won't go easy on you," Tien warned.

"I don't expect you to," Kakarot responded.

Whatever Roshi had told Tien just went totally down the drain. The moment he stepped foot on the ring and looked at Kakarot's face again was the moment he threw all his morals to the side. 'I'm going to kill you...fool!' Tien pounced right for Kakarot.

Kakarot got on guard. Tien came at him fast. 'Whoah...' Kakarot barely managed to protect himself from Tien's elbow which came at superhuman speeds. 'He must have been working hard.' Just seeing how fast Tien was coming for him, Kakarot knew this would be a challenge. The Saiyan boy, one who loved to fight, found this rather exciting.

"I told you I wasn't going to hold back!" Tien kicked Kakarot in the shin.

Kakarot let his guard down for a slight moment, allowing Tien to rock him with a fist to the chin. Kakarot was pushed back, his feet sliding due to how hard he had them planted in the ground. Tien jumped towards him once more remaining on the offensive.

Kakarot hopped into the sky, evading Tien from getting any closer towards him. He came back down the moment his opponent missed and kicked Tien directly on the back. Tien stumbled over and caught himself with his hands. He front-flipped over onto his feet. Kakarot maneuvered from behind him and appeared in front of Tien, who was rendered with a clean punch to the face.

Kakarot didn't let up and rammed his fist into Tien's stomach. Tien felt the extreme impact from his punch, his first instinct being to tumble over. 'He's not going easy either...!' Tien grunted through the pain and grabbed Kakarot by his hand and picked the boy up. He threw him over his head and slammed him right into the ground.

Tien went to stomp on Kakarot's rib cage, but Kakarot used his tail to wrap it around Tien's ankles. "Look at this!" the announcer called out. "Kakarot's using his tail in the actual fight!"

Kakarot picked Tien up as well and slammed him on his back.

"OW! That's gotta hurt!"

"Both of them are lying on their backs now," Oolong commented.

"Hehehe," Roshi chuckled, his mind leading to other places.

Bulma knocked the old man over the head, as well as Oolong. "This isn't a funny matter! I want him beat for what he did to Gohan!"

Both Roshi and Oolong shut up quick. "Right."

Tien and Kakarot both quickly hopped back on their feet. Their shoes could be heard the ground quickly as they instantly went running right towards one another. Kakarot and Tien both had their fists cocked back. At one point it looked like their fist would come into contact with their faces at the same time. Although unexpectantly both used the same idea and performed an afterimage. The two fighters seemed to faze out simultaneously.

"Impressive," Roshi commented. "If he were to fight Gohan now, then he would definitely win without becoming a beast."

Both Kakarot and Tien were behind one another. Kakarot looked from side to side, completely oblivious to the fact that Tien used the exact same technique. "Where'd he go?"

"Behind you!" Tien, being the first to catch on, kneed Kakarot on his lower back.

Kakarot got back into fighting mode quickly and used his elbow to hit Tien's cheek, forcing the three-eyed warrior to stumble backward. Kakarot turned around and launched himself at his opponent. The little boy jumped off the ground and used the tip of his shoe to hit Tien right in the chin.

Tien flipped over. Using the momentum he started to flip backward multiple times. 'Heh.' Kakarot's eyes followed him for a few moments before he took off in attempt started to chase after his target.

Tien, immediately after landing on his feet, ascended into the air. "Come and get me!"

"So you finally learned to fly, huh?" Kakarot grinned and followed Tien in the air.

"Look at this!" the announcer exclaimed. "Both are floating in the air." Many gasps followed with murmurs came from the crowd as they witnessed the two actually flying.

"He keeps saying look at this as if our eyes aren't glued to the fight," one of the members of the audience commented.

"I know right..."

Kakarot shot at Tien and punched him in the face. Tien shot back by using his nails to strike Kakarot across the cheek. A line of blood appeared on Kakarot's face, though he ignored it, knowing it'd fade away eventually after the fight. The two rivals continued going back and forth with hit after hit.

Kakarot and Tien both didn't seem to let up, letting both of their fists fly at one another. People in the audience merely managed to see blurs of their limbs moving. Very few, mostly the fighters, were able to see them go back and forth.

"How are they keeping up with one another," Tsuru asked. He was confused. Sure enough, he figured Kakarot would be stronger. From what they were seeing, they were absolute equals.

"This is preposterous!" Tao yelled. He, like Tsuru, had the same expectations, albeit he happened to envision the opposite of what his brother did, only to be surprised by a common result.

"Give up and die!" Tien stuck out his knuckles as he gave Kakarot a hard punch to the hip.

Kakarot had to take a moment to allow that hit to sink in. Tien noticed the effect it had on Kakarot and followed with an elbow to the top of his head. He then grabbed Kakarot by his hair and rammed his knee into the boy's face.

Kakarot fought on with even a nose that was leaking blood. He grabbed Tien's wrist which was coming his way. He held on tightly. "Gr!"

Tien tried to use his other hand, but Kakarot caught that one as well. The two ended up in a struggle. Closing in on one another, their faces were mere centimeters from one another, growling like wild animals in their faces. Their gums were revealed, just showing how much effort they were exerting to merely beat one another.

"They're in a power struggle!" the announcer called out.

The crowd was almost at their loudest than ever. "THIS MATCH IS CRAZY!"

Tien headbutted Kakarot, gaining an advantage. Kakarot was then rendered a straight kick to the stomach. Said fighter grabbed Tien's leg and held on. Tien tried to pull his leg back, but Kakarot was hell-bent on not letting go. The boy had a smug look on his blood tainted face. "You're not going to leave this ring with a beating heart." Kakarot then turned around, still holding Tien. Subsequently, he was aiming right for the ring as he was flying down south at rapid speeds.

"No!" Tien kicked Kakarot in the shoulder using his free leg.

Kakarot grunted. Tien noticed the pain he was inflicting and came back with another kick to the shoulder. 'Stop...!' Tien chuckled and kicked him even harder this time. "RAH!" Due to the pain, he let Tien go.

Tien's back slammed right against the hard ring, forming a crack in it. Kakarot descended down, clutching his right shoulder, which began to feel out of place. The boy ripped off the white tank top he wore, tossing it to the edge of the ring, letting hit hang. A pulsating sensation going through his bruised shoulder.

Tien's back was just as red as Kakarot's shoulder was. 'This technique is going to hurt a lot...' The fighter had a trick up his sleeve, though he knew it would cost quite the discomfort.

"What's the matter?" Kakarot chuckled through the pain. "Can't keep on?"

"We're just getting..." Tien began to tense up.

FLOP

"Started!"

Kakarot had to blink a few times in order to internalize what he was seeing. Tien had a wide grin. He had two extra arms appearing out from behind his back. "Let's continue!"

Kakarot stood his ground, not going to show he was concerned, even though he very much was. "Let's go, then."

Tien came right at Kakarot. He managed blocked one of Tien's punches. Tien then came in using his left fist, which Kakarot grabbed. The boy kneed Tien in the shin, having his opponent lower. As Tien began to fall down on his back he used his two extra arms to ram into Kakarot's upper back.

Kakarot fell right on his face, his already broken nose making contact with the hard structure of the ring as Tien fell down hard on his already bruised back. The two didn't waste any time and rolled right over back onto their feet, rushing in for one another.

Tao grinned. "Tien's going to win easily with this technique." Tsuru remained silent at his brother's boasting. The man had forgotten that Tien was capable of such a thing. That was something Tien would be able to use at his own advantage for sure.

Kakarot just missed Tien with a punch as Tien merely stepped to the side. Tien chuckled and kneed Kakarot in the chest. The little warrior was beginning to be re-directed into the air. Tien used both of his normal arms and hit Kakarot in the gut and the mid-section of his back at the same time.

Tien chuckled and also used two of his abnormal arms to hit Kakarot in the face and the back of his head simultaneously. Kakarot's internal organs in the center of his body felt crushed as Tien had him at front and back. His mushed face was also throbbing from those two hits. 'This is the fight I've been looking for so long!' Tien grabbed Kakarot by his leg and slammed him on his face. 'Heh! Too bad he's going to die in the process!'

Kakarot got back on his face. 'How in the hell am I going to counter this?'

"You've humiliated me far enough," Tien told the boy. "No one else has ever beaten me this much. Your acts won't go unpunished!"

Kakarot got a straight punch to the face, nearly falling over on his back. Tien quickly grabbed his collar and punched him in the cheek. He let him go and used two of his abnormal arms and gut-checked Kakarot. "What's the matter?" Tien asked. "Are you even trying anymore?"

Kakarot growled. "To hell with you!" He was breathing heavily, having the desire to fall over on one knee to catch his breath. He knew that if he took a break for one moment, then Tien would pulverize him, as he would to Tien if his opponent did the same.

"Come on!" Tien karate chopped the boy on the neck. A cold, throbbing pain pierced itself into Kakarot's neck and traveled down his shoulders as he fell down to his very knees

Tao chuckled. "Keep him paralyzed, Chaotzu."

Chaotzu, listening to Tao, used his telekinetic powers in order to hold Kakarot against his will during the fight. "Yes, sir."

Tien then went on to kick Kakarot right across the face. Kakarot bounced off his head and landed hard on his face against the ring. "Get up!" Tien demanded.

'D-Damn it...' Kakarot struggled. 'I can't...!

"I should start the countdown!" The announcer yelled.

'Hurry and kill him,' Tao spoke to Tien telepathically.

"W-What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Tsuru yelled at Tao. It didn't take long for the older brother to put two and two together, which had him fuming with anger.

Tao chuckled. "What do you think?"

'Chaotzu...' Tien went to speak to his friend. 'Are they making you do this?'

'Tao is,' Chaotzu responded.

'Then stop it right now,' Tien ordered.

'W-What? Why?' Chaotzu knew that Tien was aware that if he was able to help his friend in any shape or form, then he would do so. The little guy didn't understand why Tien wouldn't want his help, especially in a fight like this.

'I'm not going to win this fight with the use of your magic.' Tien wanted to fight his best opponent with his own power. His honor wouldn't allow him to do such a thing. 'Stop it this instant!'

'Let him go, Chaotzu,' Tsuru warned the little imp.

"SIX...SEVEN!" The announcer continued.

"STOP OR I KILL YOU!" Tsuru yelled out.

Chaotzu nearly fell over. His powers stopped automatically. Tao merely smacked his lips seeing Chaotzu listening to Tsuru and stopping. "Fool. I wasn't going to let him kill you."

Tao just chuckled as Tsuru was red in the face. Chaotzu was sweating bullets as he wasn't sure if Tao was going to kill him or not. He was fearing for his life when neither of the brothers was going to even harm him.

Tien grinned, thankful that Chaotzu did as he wished. 'I'll make sure to kill him,' he spoke to Tao. 'But for now, let me enjoy this match.' Tien retracted his two extra arms.

"Kakarot's getting back up!" the announcer yelled.

Kakarot rose to his feet, aching all through his body. He wiped the blood that dripped onto the ring from his face. "You could have won with that extra pair of arms," Kakarot commented.

"No need," Tien said confidently. "This next attack is going to end you. If I were you I'd move."

Roshi knew exactly what Tien was talking about. "H-He doesn't mean..."

Tao had a wide smirk on his face. He turned to his brother. "You seriously taught this brat the Kikoho?"

"The Kikoho?" Chaotzu yelled over to Tien. Chaotzu heard of just how bad and destructive such a technique could be and yelled over to Tien, hoping his friend would hear him. "Tien, don't!"

Tien's hatred for Kakarot was far too great for him not to use this. He began to ascend into the sky. "Just stay right there if you wish to meet your end." With this attack, he'd be sure to erase Kakarot of existence.

"Goddammit," Tsuru growled. He didn't realize teaching his student this technique would come back to bite him in the ass.

Kakarot just spat on the ground. "There's your mark right there next to my feet." Kakarot stood over it. "Give me your best shot." The Saiyan boy wagged his tail in great anticipation. He wanted to see if Tien was truly bluffing or not.

"He's not going to do this, seriously!" Roshi's voice cracked.

"Are you ready!?" Tien challenged.

"This boy may have killed Gohan, but he doesn't deserve this!" Roshi said.

"I say give it to him!" Bulma yelled. "Give him everything you got."

The announcer gulped. "I-I think there's an issue..."

"Be careful!" Chaotzu warned. Seeing how Tien wasn't going to go back from this, the only thing Chaotzu could do was support his best friend.

Kakarot watched from below, grinning from ear to ear. 'I know about this technique...the idiot just wants to shove me out of the ring. I don't buy his stupid bluff.'

Light began to form into Tien's hands, electric bolts crackling like a fireplace in a secure home. He placed five of his fingers on one hand between the others. "Here...I see the ring." Tien was focusing all his ki into one focal point. 'I shouldn't all my energy...only in case he doesn't come back after this.' "KIKOHO!"

BADOUF!

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!" Tsuru warned.

The entire crowd was in disbelief. What took place next was a loud light and a grandiose explosion. The flash of light was so big that every single member in the audience either had to close and or block their eyes, or they'd have probability of going blind. Once everything calmed down, people opened their eyes and took a look at the ring where Kakarot was at. The only thing they managed to see was a gaping hole of blackness was left in the ring.

"T-The ring...it's gone!" the announcer, completely shook, couldn't find any words to describe what he was thinking at the current moment. His mind was just as blank as the ring was now.

Bulma smirked. "Finally...the brat's dead."

"No," Roshi corrected.

"Are you serious," Krillin asked. "After an attack like that he should be!"

"I can feel him. He's still alive."

Tien looked above him. "You've got to be joking...!" The tri-clops put everything into that, using it as his last shot. He clenched his fist, which shook with anger.

Kakarot's body and chest were nearly burned. His black pants were torn to pieces, revealing bloody bruises all over his legs. The Saiyan boy definitely took some damage from the attack, but he was lucky that he didn't caught in it entirely.

"I-Is it over yet?" Chi-Chi had her eyes covered nearly half the fight because of how brutal it was. She didn't think it'd be like this at all and had her eyes covered.

"No, sweetheart," Gyumao said. "Just keep your eyes closed." Unlike his little girl. Gyumao wasn't missing one piece of the action, none at all.

"They're both in the sky, folks!" The announcer called out.

"This fight is not as close to over as you thought!" Kakarot yelled to Tien.

Tien was seething through his teeth. 'Damn it...I lost a bit of my power thanks to that attack...I've got to end it right now!'

"Time to end this." Kakarot charged a beam at the tip of his fingers. 'I see he's exhausted. So I don't have to put much power into this next attack.'

"Not before I finish this!"

Both of them yelled their attacks in unison. "DODON PA!"

"Both of these fighters are planning to finish one another off using the same technique! What a way to decide to end it all!"

Both of their attacks came into contact with one another, ensuring a beam struggle.

"Come on, Tien!" Chaotzu encouraged.

"Let's go, Tien!" Bulma rooted on.

"Hey," Oolong commented. "Wasn't that the same guy to break your boyfriend's leg?"

"Shut-up."

Lazuli and Lapis chuckled. "What a bitch," Lazuli mumbled.

"I know right," Lapis laughed.

"Grrrr!" Tien struggled. "I-I can't lose here!"

Kakarot, like Tien, was in much of a struggle. The two were weakened, yet still even in strength. "I've got this one in the bag now! There's no way you can win! Give it up!" Kakarot pushed his attack back.

"It looks like Kakarot is on the winning side of this match!"

'I...I still got some left in me.' Tien felt like he was going to collapse any moment.

"Time to end this!" Kakarot put all his power into the rest of the attack. "DIE!"

"NO!" Tien put every atom into this attack.

Kakarot couldn't believe this. "I-Impossible...!"

Their attacks canceled out and ended with a loud explosion. The impact was so huge that it sent both Kakarot and Tien flying to the other side. "Ugh!"

Tien didn't have anything left in him. Kakarot was completely out of it. 'D-Damn it...' He tried using his tail and spinning it at fast rates, but even he didn't have enough power to be able to do so.

Tien and Kakarot both fell on the edge of the side of the tournament ring...or lack thereof. They both lied on opposite sides of the gaping black hole which used to be the ring.

The crowd was silent. Everyone knew that this would be counted as a ring out.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats. Who dropped first? Tien...Kakarot? People began to question their own opinions, which many others disagreed with, claiming who they saw drop down first.

The announcer was in a whole world of his own for a slight moment. "Ugh..." He fixed his glasses. "Ahem." He placed the microphone by his mouth. The man quickly regained his footing and spoke aloud. "Both Tien and Kakarot had a great fight!" He turned to the crowd. "But we all know that there can only be one winner!"

Everyone listened intently.

"and...IT'S A DRAW!"

Nearly everyone in the stage fell on their backs. "Unfortunately there was no telling who hit the ground first. And seeing how there is no ring to fight on anymore, the fight is a draw!"

"Impossible!" Tao yelled.

"GRRR! KILL HIM KAKAROT!"

"END HIM RIGHT NOW TIEN!"

"So...whomever can get up first and say I win is the winner of this match!"

Everyone turned their attention to the two. Tien tried to crawl, but all the energy he once had was completely drained. Tien managed to get on his knees. But as soon as he did they began to come weak. He wobbled for a few short moments and fell right over. "Fuck..."

"And Tien is down, folks! There is utterly no way he's coming back!"

"DAMMIT!" Tao clenched his fists.

"Tien..." Chaotzu said under his breath.

Kakarot was on one knee. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and onto the ground. 'I-I have to end this fight.' The boy rose back up once again. Kakarot felt that his knees were going to give out on him at any current moment. He watched as Tien was on his chest, looking at him. He was waiting for Kakarot.

"Go ahead..." He watched as Kakarot neared him. "Do it."

"All you have to do is say you win!" the announcer told Kakarot.

Kakarot completely ignored him. "What is he doing?" Oolong asked.

"He's going to boast," Bulma said.

"That's what I'd do," Lapis said.

Kakarot looked over Tien. "I can kill you right now." He made sure he spoke at a volume to where no one but Tien could hear him. "But you have two options."

Tien managed to look up at the supposed to be the victor of the fight. "W-What c-could you w-want with me?"

Kakarot smiled. "You're the best opponent I could ever ask for," he said with total honesty. "You can say 'spare me Kakarot' and I'll just say I win, sparing you your life."

Tien chuckled. "If...If I were you. I-I'd j-just...kill me."

"Well you're not the one standing over me, are you?" Kakarot asked. Tien didn't respond, keeping his mouth shut. Kakarot crouched down. "So what's it going to be? Death...or another chance at beating me?"

"Just kill me."

Kakarot grinned. He loved how Tien responded and didn't expect anything else from the tri-clops. "Good answer." He stood back up and looked over to the announcer, who was still expecting a response. He and the crowd wondered why he didn't announce his victory yet when it was so obvious.

"I win!"

Tien was shocked. "I said kill me bastard!"

"I wasn't going to do myself a displeasure of killing you," Kakarot said. "How stupid would I be?"

"END HIM!" Tsuru yelled.

Kakarot looked over to Tsuru and Tao, who were both practically demanding him to end Tien's life. Kakarot scoffed and shook his head. "Not happening."

Tsuru growled. 'I'm going to get that idiot.'

"Tch!" Tao looked over to Tsuru. "Your pupil is defeated and mine won't even bother to go on with the bet. We should just kill them both."

Chaotzu overheard this and froze. Looking over to Tien, he didn't want to see his friend die, especially by their own master.

Tsuru picked at his facial hair. "We might as well. But not right now." He looked at Tao. "It's better we handle things...after."

Tao nodded. "Very well."

Kakarot grinned. He looked over to Tao. 'My own supposed teacher was rooting for the other guy from the start.' The boy clenched his fist. 'And yet another decides to turn their back on me...! I've had it. Although I know I'm not strong enough thanks to this fight, I'm going to kill him when I get the chance.' Kakarot turned around and began to take his leave.

"W-Wait!" The announcer said. "Don't you want your prize money?"

Kakarot waved him off. "Money isn't of any importance to me."

"But you can buy anything you want with it kid," one of the members of the audience said. "Food! Drinks...TOYS you name it!"

That struck a nerve. 'Drinks.' Kakarot licked his lips. 'Drinks equals wine. And I love wine.' Kakarot turned around. 'Where do I get it?'

"Follow me!" The announcer turned to the audience as Kakarot walked towards him. "Behold your winner of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai! Kakarot!"

The crowd erupted.

Kakarot tapped the man on the leg. "Let's get my money now, please."

"Oh, right. Let's go."

"I can't believe this..." Roshi stroked his chin. "The main question is where did he come from and how is he so powerful?"

"He's my student," Tao informed Roshi.

Roshi looked over to Tao. "Is that right...if he really is yours, then why didn't he kill Tien?"

Tao grinned. "Sorry. He **was** my student. Just wait when I go in there and kill him myself."

"Good luck," Roshi tipped his hat. "By the looks of things he's stronger than you and your brother. You wouldn't stand a chance."

Tao fumed. "I should kill you on the spot."

Roshi turned around. "Don't even bother." He, Bulma, Oolong and the others all left. "This tournament is officially over and I'm hungry. Good-Bye."

Tao and Tsuru kept their cool. Besides their main focus wasn't even Roshi, it being Kakarot himself.

"Omg! He actually won," Chi-Chi exclaimed. She looked at her father. "We should go congratulate him."

"Yeah, let's go."

Gyumao and Chi-Chi both just ran through the crowd, which consisted everyone leaving the place with big wide smiles on their faces, talking about all of the fights. Gyumao, being the biggest guy there didn't have a problem pushing on through.

Tien just lied on his back, watching as Kakarot entered the room. "I...I can't believe." He stuck his head into the grass and smiled. "Heh. Bastard. He'll regret letting me live."

In a back room, the announcer was counting the money he was going to give to Kakarot. "Here it is. You can buy all the toys you want! But judging by how you don't seem the type to be fond of toys...whatever else you want."

Kakarot's eyes beamed. "Hehehe." The announcer started to give Kakarot the money. While he was in the process of doing so, the man suddenly stopped. Kakarot just simply waited for him. After a few seconds, the Saiyan boy was truly beginning to get agitated. Kakarot was still waiting. "Uhm...my money?"

Behind those shades, he was wearing his eyes were shaking. Never before had he seen someone so evil looking. "I-I..."

"Give me my money!" Kakarot said in a stern tone.

"You won't be needing money anymore, boy!"

Kakarot hopped up front before spinning around. "Excuse me?"

The man chuckled. He didn't look at all like the average human. The dark green, scaly skin gave it away. Not to add, the wings he had out in the open was an indicator as well. He didn't have on a shirt, though only black pants with a red garment tied around it "Your life comes to an end here!" He dashed at Kakarot, who only got to see him for a brief second.

The man was far too fast, even for the young boy. The dark green skinned man grabbed Kakarot by the face and slammed his back against the wall. He had his hand over his mouth, keeping him shut.

"K-KRgh!" Kakarot tried to let out words, though all of them were simply being muffled out. Had the boy remained with more strength, he would have taken this guy on no problem.

The announcer himself was at a loss. Just moments before the strongest fighter was labeled as Kakarot. And now here he was being handled like the kid he was. Kakarot moved around like a dying fish, trying his best to get out of a hold, but to no avail.

"Hehehehe!" He turned around and threw Kakarot into the ceiling.

He watched as Kakarot's back hit hard against it and then came falling down. He then raised his hand, which aimed at Kakarot. "Good-bye!" A bright, yellow ki began to generate in the palm of his hands, which he fired off.

"AGHHH!" Kakarot let out a scream. The boy was frozen in place the moment the wave of energy overwhelmed him. Once the energy canceled out, the boy fell over on his back with a hard thud.

His assailant looked onto Kakarot, whose eyes were rolled to the back of his head. He waited a few more seconds, watching out for any movements. Kakarot didn't appear to be breathing at all in the slightest. Coming to the conclusion that he did his job, the green began to put on the finishing touch of his act.

"W-What did you doo!?" the announcer asked, his voice cracking.

He turned around and grabbed him by the arm, snapping it completely. "OWGHH!" He fell over to his knees, in total shock while he clutched his broken arm.

He chuckled and walked over to Kakarot, who showed no signs of breath. "Hm. Good riddance, kid." He took out a piece of paper with a kanji on it and let it set on Kakarot's chest. Once his job was done, the mysterious figure dashed out of the room, where nobody else managed to even see him.

The announcer stood there holding his broken arm, full of pain and bewilderment. "What...Just...Happened?" He looked over to Kakarot, who was completely motionless...


	10. An Inevitable Matchup Pt 1

"You must survive..." Repeating faces, once more. This isn't the first time this has happened. A scarred man and his wife looked Kakarot dead in his eyes. Many times when the boy slept, he would get the same dream, though he never understood why. The boy was in a deep sleep. People heard the ruckus and came to see what happened, which ended with everyone coming to the conclusion that the little boy was dead.

Kakarot was only the first victim of the evil that was reborn, an evil that had been trapped for countless years. Now that it was back, hell was walking on earth.

"Watch out for the galactic patrol!" Being elevated, all he could see were various different places of this very strange, but also familiar world.

When he was just a boy on his way to earth, he recalled bright lights that happened from afar. It was as if something nearby had exploded. It was bright, then just after he landed on earth.

BOOM!

Kakarot's eyes shot open, letting out a loud gasp. The kid had shot up off, huffing heavily, cold sweat skating down his aching back. Truly he thought he was dead, having felt a sensation unlike any other while he rested. His vision was blurry, although he noticed that he was inside a home. As his vision cleared he recognized it to be a ceiling. The room was big and had dressers surrounding him. Everything around him was neatly organized, fitting in perfectly with the pink walls. The boy immediately noticed the feminine room was where he happened to sleep in. He rubbed his throbbing head, the aftereffects of that assailant influencing him immediately. "OW..." Kakarot recalled the green looking fiend that had attacked him, envisioning the face of his attacker in his head. "Him!"

Kakarot ran out the door with great urgency. His head zipped from left to right, the only thing on his mind had been the man who nearly killed him. He wanted vengeance and he wanted it now, despite the injuries he was given. "Where is he?" Kakarot's tail was lashing side to side instinctually. He was now hell bent on getting revenge from the person that had tried to kill him. But all of a sudden he seemed to calm down, realizing he was in a secure place. Kakarot's head slightly cocked to the side for a brief moment, his concerns for his assailant slowly fading as something else had caught his attention.

SNIFF SNIFF

An arousing aroma could be sensed through the air. It was one of various smells, all to their own respective food. Mixed into one, an unseen line of aroma found its way up to Kakarot's nose. It was a good smell, something he knew that certainly belonged to food, something he was able to eat. Kakarot did what he always did and let his nose lead him to the direction of where the scent was coming from. Making a few turns of the big house, he finally found his way to the kitchen, with his head up, sniffing constantly like a wild animal. The only two people in the house looked at Kakarot with a mix of surprise and confusion. Kakarot eyed the both of him and got a bit suspicious "W-Who are you?" Neither of the faces before him was familiar.

"Goodness, you're finally up," the big man said. Gyumao, the daughter of Chi-Chi was dressed in a simple buttoned shirt with overalls and a giant hat to fit his gigantic head. Though big and intimidating in size, he had a warming smile, which made Kakarot lower his suspicions a bit.

"About time." The girl ran over to Kakarot and grabbed him by the arm. "Daddy and I made a lot of meals for you." Kakarot could see that these amiable strangers meant absolutely no harm to him at all, though the only thing on his mind was why a little girl with revealing clothing of armor was touching all over him. The only thing he was wearing at the moment were loose black pants. His entire upper body was wrapped in bandages and it also hurt him when she grabbed at his arm.

"Right, after being knocked out for three days we'd thought you'd be kind of hungry." Gyumao looked over his dinner table, which was well over 500 feet inches long and wide. The smooth dinner table made of marble was varied in different fashions of food, all of which appeared very succulent.

"Three days?!" Kakarot nearly exclaimed. He rubbed his temple while shaking his head, which was still aching a bit. "Impossible." Of course, he was to be occupied in the head with whom these random people were, but the fact he was out for three days surprised him more. Who could have possibly done this? Yes, he remembered the face of his attacker, but just who the hell was he?

"We all thought you were dead at first because your heart wasn't beating. After I did CPR your heart started beating again. But you never woke up."

"That's highly unusual." Kakarot entered the kitchen, touching his chest with his right hand. He could feel the calm beat of his pumping heart. "But I guess I wasn't completely brain dead...?"

"A heart that stops beating doesn't mean you're truly dead from the start," Gyumao explained. "You're just lucky you started breathing again."

Chi-Chi and Gyumao watched as Kakarot nodded and got right to the food without saying a word. Three days worth of food gone right down his throat and into his stomach. Dozens of empty plates lied on the big dinner table, well over 80 of them. The empty plates were all stacked so high that Gyumao himself had a difficult time seeing Kakarot, on his own special chair, suited for his abnormal size.

"Done." Kakarot downed a cup of milk on the side of him. When he finished his drink, he looked down at the cup void of anything else to place into his stomach. He wondered if they had anything other than milk. He moved to the side, so he could put his eye on Gyumao. "Do you have any wine?"

"Eh..." Gyumao scratched his head. The big guy wasn't so sure why a simple kid of Kakarot's size would have the thirst for something that was merely suitable for adults, though he didn't want to displease his guest. "Maybe. I'll have to check." The big guy got up to near the cabinets where he was sure that he had wine of his own. "A lot has happened since you left ya know."

"What do you mean?" Kakarot asked. "The triceps or anyone else could have handled him easily for me. I was just tired." That sort of frustrated Kakarot, though he kept his cool. He knew had he gotten a bit of rest, he wouldn't have been so defenseless. For the first time in his life, Kakarot tried to protect himself and failed miserably, in front of a vulnerable human to be exact.

"Everyone...every single person that took place in the tournament is dead. Just a few days ago he announced himself as King on television." The big guy

"I never thought the stories of Piccolo were true!" Chi-Chi spoke out loud, her tone of voice sounding a bit unsettled. If everything she heard was true, then their lives would be turned upside down and converted into a living nightmare. The little girl could only imagine how terrible things would be just at the thought of it.

Gyumao continued talking, looking through his cabinets. "Three days ago on May 9th, he dethroned the king of earth and gave himself the title. In celebration of the day he became king, he's decided to make his own sick and twisted tradition. Every year on May 9th, he will choose which region he will destroy by drawing out a piece of paper. Whatever region is on there, he will demolish without a second thought." Gyumao looked back at Kakarot, holding a bottle of wine. "And since there are only 43 regions, it will be 43 years before he destroys everything. His first victims all resided in the Western Capital"

"There being a king..." Kakarot poured down his wine in the glass. "There must be rules we follow, no?" From how Pilaf always spoke about being the ruler of the earth, he had these nonexisting laws he would always speak of, one that would mainly have people bend to his will and restrict others from crossing him.

"That's the thing. There are no rules. The only thing he wants is destruction. He's letting people go out and kill one another. He encourages carnage all around." He sighed. "Lucky for us we stay out here in a remote area."

Kakarot sipped on the glass, getting a good taste. He drunk it for a few seconds prior to placing back on the table, leaving it half empty. "Where can I find him?" Kakarot asked.

"You...you want to fight him?" Gyumao questioned. "The man that just beat you is far weaker than the Piccolo Daimao..."

Kakarot clenched his fist. Kakarot didn't care how weak or strong this person was, such actions against him needed to be paid in full. "If that's the person who called the hit, then he's going to pay the price." Gyumao could tell Kakarot was angry, but the young boy knew how to keep his cool. "He won't go off easy with that." And for whatever reason Kakarot's pride wouldn't let him go down defeated.

"No!" Chi-Chi called out. She ran into the kitchen. "We just brought you in! You can't leave now. You'll be killed!" The girl was sincerely hoping Kakarot would just stay with them and not put himself in danger. Although it could have been for her own selfish reasons, they were very much righteous and well-intentioned.

Kakarot shook his head. He had made up his mind from the moment he recollected what happened. If he was to lead himself into his own death, then so be it. He wasn't going to take an unfair as whipping and just go into hiding. "No...I won't." He downed the rest of the glass of wine and slammed it back down. "Now...where is he located?" he asked, much more sternly

"He's in King Castle," Gyumao informed Kakarot. It is located in Central City, the tallest building there. You'll notice it once you're there." As he gave Kakarot the directions, the big guy felt extremely reluctant doing so. Kakarot even noted how much he hesitated through his voice. It was for the simple fact that he didn't want to be responsible for sending a mere kid off to the end of his life. If it would to happen, then he'd have to live with that for the rest of his life. He killed many in his own past, but this was entirely different.

Kakarot stood by the front door of Gyumao's home, a warm smile on his face. He was truly thankful that people were willing to bring him in, saving his own tail. Kakarot hadn't received such kindness from anyone in a rather long time. The only decency he got was from Mai and Soba, and even they were hard on him sometimes. The 15-year-old couldn't help but feel a bit obligated to them. "I appreciate the hospitality from you two. I'll make sure nothing happens to either of you when I get back."

Gyumao nodded. "Godspeed, Kakarot."

Kakarot shot out the door took off into the air, the rays of the sun getting weaker and weaker as seconds went by. Kakarot had a smile on his face, thinking about Gyumao and his daughter. Their kindness left a much larger impression on him than they would think. If they were willing to treat him so kindly as if he were one of their own...then could he truly be with them? A family that actually cares and wouldn't send him away? A boy could only hope.

* * *

Both Lapis and Lazuli were both walking down an empty street, both with hardened yet saddened looks. Surrounding them was nothing. The very small amount of people in this area were killing off one another, out of desperation and some just out of pure evil. Once humankind realized there was free will and that their actions would have no repercussions, that was when the bad began to overpower the good. Crashed cars and messed up buildings on the cracked roads was the only thing the two siblings had with them. Everyone they knew was dead. Roshi had recently led a revolt with the help of others Him, Tien, Chaotzu and more all teamed up...and failed. "So...the bedtime stories are true. He really does exist." Even the most promising student of Roshi, Krillin, had fallen.

"I still can't believe it," Lazuli said. The girl's voice cracked as she had a hard time keeping herself from crying. "Krillin's gone...Yamcha. Roshi." She shook her head. "This is complete bullshit...!" In order to keep herself from being overwhelmed by her own grave despondency, she converted it all into pent-up repressed vexation. "FUCK!" The girl kicked the side wall as hard as she could, ripping a piece of her shoe in the process. She felt a crack in her foot, but she was too angry to even care. After spending the majority of their lives as runaways from broken homes, running around to different places as nobody remotely cared for them, they managed to find their own home with people who did treasure and adore them as friends and family. And in the blink of an eye, they were all wiped away, too. They were back at square one, but this time with very dark clouds over their heads.

"Maybe Roshi was right." Lapis ignored his sister's outburst and simply stopped walking. Unlike his twin, Lapis showed a lack of emotion, which he was far better at controlling. He, too, felt the same way, though he didn't dare let a pip of weakness show, especially in front of his sister. "We should have started fighting. And now we're stuck in this hell hole, it being far too late for us to even fight back." He shook his head. "Things would be so much different if we knew how to fight..." Lapis looked up. The sun was getting ready to take its daily break for the night. The only thing they could picture was how their friends went out...like warriors.

"Right." Lazuli stopped just in front of him. The girl kept her head down with her blonde hair covering her face, which gradually got redder with her emotions coming out. "God...if only there was a way."

"Oh, but there's always a way my friends." Out of nowhere, a strange voice had spoken to the both of them. The twins looked behind them, seeing a dark black looking genie standing on a carpet, with his hands behind his back. He had a blank expression, which was creepy for his wide black eyes and red lips.

"Who the hell are you?" Lazuli and Lapis asked simultaneously. Both were a bit suspicious the moment they saw him. They were aware of the bad people lurking in the streets now and knew they had to be careful around strangers.

Besides, it's not every day you're living in a world that is getting ready to crash and burn, and now all of a sudden comes a fat, black genie on a magic carpet. All of this just made things much more peculiar than they had to be. "Let's say God has answered your message."

* * *

The castle that the previous king used to live in, was indeed located in Central City. Out of all buildings in the city, this one castle was the one that stood out the most compared to all other infrastructure within the vicinity. The outside showed a smooth color pattern of blue, white and gold. It was a few dozen stories high and had balconies on all three different sections of the outside. Three circular looking rings were attached and built all around the castle, the first one being the gold color. At the second to last, which was blue, golden poles stuck out of it. It was a beautiful site and was visited regularly by people outside of the city. Unfortunately, it wasn't being run by such a noble being anymore.

The man to call himself Piccolo Daiamo had taken his place as king now. Hundreds of years ago, he was the first person to make the entire planet earth experience true hell. His onslaught continued on for years, all until he was stopped by the man named Master Mutaito, the one to study greats like Roshi. After being unleashed from his internal hell, Piccolo was back, though a bit more seasoned. He used the Dragon Balls to wish for eternal youth and was now back in his prime. He was back and he was back better than before. And that only meant worse for the people of earth. "Now no one can definitely oppose us." He looked over to one of his spawns, a wide mutated version of himself. He looked just like Tambourine, the man to attack Kakarot, though he had no wings and was physically overweight. "Just how many people are wreaking havoc right now, son?"

Drum grinned. "I'd say quite a few, Master. The humans aren't as fragile and good as we thought." Drum was to his father's right as his brother Tambourine stood in front, and another spawn, Cymbal, being on the lift. If anyone dared to test Piccolo, they'd have to go through them first.

"That's very good," Piccolo spoke. He was grinning from ear to ear, simply at the thought of humans tearing one another apart. That was the end goal of course: total power and absolute carnage. He already got the former of the half, but the latter was still in progress. He wanted it back to how he had it before...or much, much worse.

"There are some humans that have gotten good kills...very bad ones, sir. Sinc they've been free, they've been doing every bad thing in the book. Of course, none of what they do rivals your intentions sire, but they're making our plans unfold much quicker."

"Nice," Piccolo said, liking what he was hearing. "Perhaps one of you could bring them to me. If you find a good human that could kill whomever, then perhaps we can award them."

"With what, sire?" Tambourine asked respectfully.

Piccolo had to hold in some laughter. There was only one thing he was known to render to those he either respected or disliked. "With death, of course. Hehehehehe."

BANGG!

As if Piccolo's wishes just came true, his doors just caved in. Piano, a spawn of Piccolo's, came inside stumbling over, falling on his face head first. The man was merely his father's assistant, not capable of being a fighter like the others. That in itself was the only reason he was running and not protecting, due to his lack of fighting prowess.

A young boy with a scowl on his face appeared before them all. He looked at everyone in the room, with the thoughts of only revenge running through his head constantly. The boy was looking rather tough and brave to face Piccolo, especially considering the fact that his body was wrapped in bandages.

"HM?" Piccolo looked at the boy oddly. He could have sworn that this brat looked rather familiar to him.

The person to recognize Kakarot immediately was none other than Tambourine of course. He was shocked to see that of all people, this brat he truly thought he killed, managed to make an appearance. "You!" Tambourine yelled. "I killed you!"

"Obviously you're not good at it," Kakarot retorted. He ignored the scowls coming from Tambourine, looking right past him and into the eyes of Piccolo, who looked at this boy with the utmost interest. "You're the one to send your incompetent lackey to try and take me out, yes?"

"Father..." Piano lifted his head up weakly. While outside, he was knocked through the castle by the smack of Kakarot's tail. The door fell on his spine and prevented him from standing up. "You don't have to answer to hi-"

 **! ! !**

Kakarot shut the small spawn up by smashing his boot on the back of his head. Piano had blood leaking quickly from the front of his face, which ensured he most definitely died on impact. Seeing his spawn, one he took a bit of his life to birth, was killed so easily, pissed the Demon King off. He didn't want to show he was entirely worried about his spawn's death and remained with an emotionless look. The others sure as hell showed how much they didn't like Kakarot barging in and killing one of their own so cruelly as they hissed at him. Tambourine especially didn't like it. He failed to kill the pipsqueak and for that, one of his own died in the process. He mostly felt obligated to end the boy's life while he could.

Tambourine turned back to his father, making sure to ask permission. "It was my responsibility to kill him, M'Lord. Let me have another chance and I'll make sure even his ashes don't even fall when I eradicate him.

"Carry on," Piccolo said, sending his son off with his hand. Tambourine turned around, looking right at Kakarot, smirking. Cymbal and Drum backed up a bit, seeing how Tambourine wanted Kakarot all too himself. "Don't fail me, boy."

"I won't!" Tambourine responded. He hopped off his back foot, lunging himself for the monkey boy.

Kakarot just stood there, looking at Tambourine with the most unimpressed look yet. The Saiyan knew he could have beat Tambourine is he was at full power, though seeing how slow this grotesque being was coming at him confirmed his previous thoughts. "You got me last time because I was worn out..." Kakarot bobbed his head to the side, dodging a punch. He gut-checked Tambourine, who was over clutching his stomach. "Not to mention I'm stronger now." Kakarot used the same hand he punched Tambourine with to blast him through the stomach.

Tambourine was sent flying back, eyes wide full of surprise. Not just four days ago, he had this kid struggling to break free from him. Now, he was ended by that same brat in two attacks. He looked at the green blood that oozed out of his stomach and splat onto the ground prior to landing just before his father's feet. Tambourine's last facial expression was one full of pain and shock. Piccolo eyed him for a few seconds before he scoffed, disappointed at how pitiable Tambourine performed. "Pitiful. Drum! Cymbal! KILL HIM!"

Cymbal and Drum both ran their way towards Kakarot, who kneed got him good with a jumping knee strike dead center in the face. The fat spawn fell over on his back clutching his now bloody nose. "ARGH!" Drum, seeing an opening, punched Kakarot directly in the face.

Kakarot's face budged at the strike and chuckled. Drum didn't have any words, left speechless. Anyone he faced prior would be dead from an attack of his with such force. Kakarot hopped back, just in the entrance of the room. "That's what I like."

Drum blinked once and didn't even see Kakarot where he last saw him before. "W-Where?"

"Behind you!" Cymbal warned him as he got up.

Drum had no time to react to his brother's warning. Being kicked in the spine, Drum was sent rolling on the floor, lying next to his dead brother, Piano. Kakarot then looked back at Cymbal and held his hand out. "Good-Bye." No hesitation noted...and in no time Cymbal was on the floor, bleeding out with a hole through his chest.

Both Piccolo and Drum were taken by complete surprise. The boy moved with such swiftness and agility that Daimao himself almost missed the boy's movements. After finishing with three of the four, Kakarot looked back to Drum, who was back on his feet. "You're next."

"To hell with you!" Drum made sure to keep his guard up as he went on the offensive, fading out of sight. Kakarot, as he did initially, remained stationary. He could tell exactly where Drum was headed and made sure to time his motions perfectly. Kakarot moved his head slightly to the right and moved his right hand over his left shoulder to get a grip on Drum's left fist. "What the?" The spawn of Piccolo was sure he was going to catch the boy off guard. Seeing how his plan failed, his mind went completely blank.

Kakarot used some effort to pick Drum up and slammed the fat demon right on his back. Kakarot proceeded to get down, pressing his knee against Drum's throat, preventing him from breathing. Kakarot looked into his eyes as he withheld any breath being taken by his victim. Kakarot placed his hands over Drum's mouth, muting the choking sounds being made. Drum began to panic as a hot, radiant energy started to form in the palm of Kakarot's hand, which was right over his wide open mouth. The energy attack went through Drum's mouth, exiting out the back.

Never before had Daimao seen any of his spawns been disposed of so easily. He was livid. He just wasted a bunch of energy on useless weaklings that ended up being slaughtered by some child. He rose from his chair. "You truly think you're able to defeat me, brat?"

"Your sons were easy," Kakarot said, hopping over to Piccolo. Just yards away from the green man, he stood. Piccolo lifted himself from his throne, looking down on the much shoulder fighter, who showed no fear. "As they say, like father like son.'"

Piccolo chuckled at the boy's confidence. His sons were killed by him, yes, but Piccolo wasn't that weak. He would simply destroy this boy and be done with it. His knuckles connected with Kakarot's right cheek. Kakarot was sent sliding over on his back and through the blood of tambourine, who he just killed moments earlier. He flipped over just before he touched Drum's headless body and landed on his feet after executing a simple backward handspring.

Piccolo neared the boy once more, with the same attempted strike. Kakarot ducked and rammed his fist into Piccolo's chest. The impact of the attack caught Piccolo by surprise and had him stumbling back, clutching his chest with his right hand. Kakarot continued with a left hook across the cheek and an uppercut, trying to knock the man over on his back.

Piccolo didn't fall as Kakarot wished and stayed on his two feet. Piccolo used his long arms to reach down to Kakarot and got a hold of the boy's shoulders. Kakarot winced in pain as that right shoulder of his was still aching from his fight with Tien. Piccolo dug his sharp nails into Kakarot's shoulders, eliciting a silent yelp before he tossed the kid up through the roof, sending Kakarot out of the castle and outside.

"Uhm...!" Kakarot kept his eyes peeled, expecting Piccolo to come right through the hole he just created. Much to his surprise, he didn't. Kakarot stopped himself from elevating any further into the air and continued to look down below. He squinted his eyes. "Where could he b-"

BANG!

Piccolo's double fist connected with Kakarot's head. The Saiyan boy was falling down quickly. Using a lot of effort he managed to land on all fours. He looked back up, where Piccolo was coming down for him, head first. Kakarot shot off his knee and flew directly towards his opposing fighter.

Piccolo just chuckled and punched Kakarot in the face. Kakarot managed to block a kick but then received a foot to the hip. Piccolo laughed as he continuously beat on the boy, seeming to have the advantage in the battle. Having used the dragon balls to gain eternal youth, he was as strong as ever. The good thing about it was that he still wasn't using 100% of his power. Rendering Kakarot a downward punch, the smaller fighter landed hard on his back onto the green grass.

Piccolo came rushing down at Kakarot. Said boy placed his hands on the side of his head and lifted himself up. Piccolo's knee collided hard against the ground, just grazing against Kakarot's back. The Saiyan boy was in a handstand and pushed himself back onto his feet.

Kakarot and Piccolo were so focused on their current battle that they didn't notice an airship further in the sky, with people in it as well. One of the three people ha binoculars pressed against his face, watching the fight. "Who is it, Pilaf!" Pilaf had been hogging it for a while now, keeping the other two in deep suspense as to what was going on.

"Hold on, hold on!" Pilaf yelled. He didn't get a good look at just who Piccolo was fighting due to the green man's tall stature as well as how fast they were fighting. Once Piccolo managed to move out of the way Piccolo and Kakarot were both fighting back and forth. That same face that he raised for nine years was the one facing against Piccolo. That little boy, Kakarot, had grown even more...not only in looks but in power as well, being able to stand up against the likes of Piccolo.

"So?" Soba asked. He and Mai had their eyes glued to Pilaf, just waiting. They wanted to see what this person looked like. If they were standing up to Piccolo, then he must have been powerful as well.

The bifocals slipped out of Pilaf's hand, falling over the railing of his airship to eventually crash once it landed on the hard ground. The blue imp backed away, eyes fluttering incessantly. Both Soba and Mai were still on edge, wondering who it was. He genuinely couldn't believe Kakarot was fighting Piccolo. He fell right on his butt, nearly dazed out. "I-I can't believe it..."

"Who is it?" Mai asked.

"K-Kakarot..."

Mai and Soba nearly gasped, yet much like Pilaf they too were at a loss for words. The very person they raised for the majority of his life was taking on the biggest threat to all of mankind...just a mere kid. Mai and Soba looked down below. Even though they weren't able to get a good look as both were like little ants moving at supersonic speeds, they managed to see the blur of a very small figure, who just had to be Kakarot, no doubt.

"It really surprises me just how good you are fighting against me the way you are." Piccolo blocked an incoming punch.

Kakarot spun around Piccolo, dodging a push kick from the green man. The boy elbowed him in his back and proceeded to render the taller fighter a kick to the kneepit, having Piccolo fall over on his back subsequent to losing balance. Kakarot connected his right fist with Piccolo's left jaw from behind, sending the green demon sliding across the grass.

Kakarot chuckled. "Haven't fought in a while? You're a little rusty."

Piccolo rose on his two feet and wiped his bloody mouth. The demon king spat out a tooth and laughed along with the boy. Kakarot stopped smirking, getting darker vibes from Piccolo. "You're a good fighter, I'll give you that. Being able to stand toe to toe with me the way I am right now is a feat that no human has ever managed before."

"Who said I was human?"

"Ah!" Piccolo's grin grew wider. "Now it all makes sense. But, I can't lie to you, boy. No matter what you are or where you come, you'll never reach my power."

"Then let's continue the fight," Kakarot urged on, tail slashing side to side excitedly.

"Sure. Recall when I said that you're the first to stand toe to toe with me in this state. Keep in mind, you'll also be the first to make me use my full power."

"You expect me to believe that? You've been struggling a bit this entire fight."

"So have you," Piccolo shot back. "Fighting at my full power will decrease my lifespan, but not by much." He was truly hoping that he would never have to get to this point, though Piccolo didn't mind. If he had to do it in order to beat a simple brat, then so be it. After the boy was out of the picture, then there'd be nobody else to stand in his way.

Kakarot remained calm. 'I was hoping to kill the bastard before he was able to show me his true strength.' Kakarot realized he was silly if Piccolo wasn't really going to demonstrate how powerful he was. The best he could do at the moment was prepare himself for whatever was to come. Whatever it may be coming at him, Kakarot wasn't going to fold.

Piccolo, staying true to his word, began to demonstrate his real power. He had his arms crossed with his hands stretched, fingers passing up his shoulders. Veins appeared on his face and arms as he gave off a pained expression, though smiling. Bright, shocking energy surrounded itself around his body as he did power up, causing the ground in their area to shake. Kakarot clenched his jaw and stood there, waiting still. He didn't expect all of this to happen, which was quite intimidating to admit. He knew now that the real battle was going to begin, but he wasn't backing down. The electrocution energy surrounding Piccolo slowly faded away as he began to finally calm down.

Seeing he was done, Kakarot got on the offensive. "Let's end this!" The boy ran after Piccolo, going at him full force. Piccolo just stood there, laughing. Once Kakarot got closer he just swayed his hands across his body. A compelling force of wind prevented Kakarot from getting any closer. It, in fact, pushed him backward. The boy had his arms covering his faces, squinting his eyes with his feet planted in the ground. His hair was blowing hard back and he could feel his tail blowing, too.

Piccolo laughed at how much Kakarot struggled, seeing this would be much easier for him from now on. "This is nice...isn't it?" Piccolo decided to get on the offensive, now excelling at what Kakarot couldn't just seconds earlier.

He didn't have time to think before he was sent crashing into the bottom foundational infrastructure of the castle. Piccolo didn't stop there and ran on his feet, making way towards Kakarot once more. Kakarot uncovered himself from under all the rubble and stood up, a bit dizzy. Once he got his vision back, Piccolo was right there for him.

"AGHK!"

Kakarot slowly started to fly off on impact from a powerful kick to the chest. Piccolo quickly snatched Kakarot's ankles before the boy could be sent crashing through the castle and slammed him on his face. Having fun Piccolo went back and forth, swinging Kakarot over his shoulder repeatedly just to slam him on the ground. He slung the smaller fighter into the air, nearly into the clouds.

Kakarot was in a world full of pain now. Piccolo came above Kakarot and rammed his fists into the boy's back. Kakarot felt like he was momentarily paralyzed by the great force of the hit and couldn't do anything about. Piccolo wasn't letting Kakarot off the hook so easily and descended back down. Just seconds prior to when Kakarot was to initially land face first into the ground Piccolo appeared out of nowhere.

DONG!

Kakarot had the wind sucked out of him once Piccolo's knee connected against his stomach, with saliva exiting his mouth involuntarily as well. Piccolo watched as Kakarot rolled off his knee and onto his own stomach, which he held tightly in a fetal position, groaning in pain. He was still hurt from his body with Tien and this fight with Piccolo was only intensifying the pain he was feeling right now. He stomped on Kakarot's back, eliciting a short moan of pain. Taking pleasure in his sadistic actions, Piccolo continued to stomp on the kid's back more.

Piccolo was full of laughter and joy as Kakarot's pain started to rise. Kakarot felt like one of his teeth was going to break because of how hard he was grinding them together, trying his best to prevent himself from simply screaming out loud. Piccolo placed his feet under Kakarot's stomach and lifted the boy up.

He was breathing hard, sucking in as much air as he possibly could. He was hoping for a break but knew he'd be given none. "I'm not done yet!" Piccolo's elbow collided with Kakarot's upper back and used his knee to strike him in the chest, all at once. As Kakarot was trying his best to catch air Piccolo was busy rubbing his elbow against the boy's chest. He then grabbed him by the collar and picked the boy up to face him. He looked into the boy's eyes, trying to make eye contact. It was something difficult at the moment because Kakarot's eyes were practically shut. The boy was exhausted and solely hoped that the pain would subside. Innately, he knew more was coming.

"Let's see how fun this will be..." Being utterly defenseless, Kakarot had no choice but to receive his incoming punishment. Piccolo went on punching him through and through all over the face and more. After a few minutes of punishing Kakarot Piccolo looked him right in his face.

Kakarot was panting, mouth full of blood, which he felt himself beginning to choke on. His entire face was surrounded by red and purple due to the amount of blood gushed out of him, as well as the bruises that were inflicted. Piccolo let Kakarot go and gut-checked him one last time, sending Kakarot flying just across the ground. Piccolo stretched out his hands. "I don't even need to use that much to kill you buaaahahahaha!..." Piccolo placed his left hand over his right arm, which stuck out aiming for Kakarot. A bright energy generated in the palm of his hands, ready to end the Saiyan boy once and for all. "Bakurikimaha!"

Kakarot realized if he didn't try to at least block this he was dead. Pushing his own body to its very limits Kakarot managed to fall down on one knee. Despite the throbbing pain going through his body, he quickly got back up and mashed his own two hands against Piccolo's signature move. The attack being pressed against his palms began to peel slowly at the skin. Kakarot didn't care and pushed on. How he was being treated in this fight was more than simple motivation to come out on top.

The boy had his eyes sealed shut, trying to deal with the pressure of Piccolo's attack. He felt it slipping. He knew that in just a few moments, he was to lose grip. And if he did so, then it'd be all she wrote. Kakarot's red gums and blooth teeth were showing, groaning and seething as he tried to hold his own.

In the back of his head, the face of his father appeared once more. The same reassuring smile that he had the day of being sent off sent shivers down the kid's spine. And those last words Bardock gave him.

 **"You must survive..."**

Those three words were the only thing that kept him pushing. The anger and determination of a Saiyan warrior was the only reason he managed to survive this long. He pushed all that anger out onto Piccolo. "You've...humiliated me...for long enough!" The boy's eyes shot open, nearly bloodshot red. Kakarot used every fiber in his body into pushing the attack away from himself, just to live for another second.

Piccolo saw how his own attack was pushed right back towards him. Daimao grunted as he smacked the blast away from him, re-directing it to the castle.

BOOM!

A cloud of smoke was formed upon the explosion. Piles of rubber from the castle was seen, steam building up into the air. Kakarot himself was dizzy, barely able to stand. It became apparent he was barely able to keep himself together with his body from the neck down vibrating as it shook. The boy had a smile appear on his face, looking at Piccolo, who he could barely make out due to his blurry vision. "You still lose..."

"Excuse me?" Piccolo busted out laughing, hysterically. "You're a fool if you think you've won!" Just looking at the boy, Kakarot didn't seem like he had any fight left in him. Just exactly what would make him say such a nonsensical thing at this point in time? Did he have something up his sleeve? From the looks of it, he had nothing left. If anything, the kid was just spouting out anything to make himself feel better at this point. Piccolo zoomed in on Kakarot and decked him across the face, showing the boy just how powerless he was at this point.

Kakarot had his back on the ground, his hands stretched out wide. His chest was taking in deep breaths with him huffing and puffing. He could barely stand, yet he brought himself right up. "There was a reason I chose to come here...at this time." The kid, regardless of the pain, got up on his behind, looking into Piccolo's eyes, who just laughed at him.

In Pilaf's airship, Mai and Soba continued watching the fight. "He's beat Kakarot up to a pulp!" Soba yelled out. The crew had lowered their ship to get a much better view of the battle, which was something out of this world.

Pilaf, after having gotten his act together, joined Soba in on what he happened to be looking at. "Why would he try to fight someone like Piccolo?" He looked over to Mai. "Didn't you read him bedtime stories when he was little?"

Mai slowly nodded. "Y-yes, sir."

"Then why in the hell wouldn't you tell him about Piccolo? If he knew just how dangerous he was, then he'd probably not even try to fight against such a monster!" It had been years since Pilaf even spoken of or seen Kakarot. He preferred to put the boy into the back of his head to never be remembered of again. But nearly ten years of seeing the same person every day doesn't just go away like that. At the time, Pilaf indeed was angry at the boy. Now, seeing Kakarot like he was, he could only feel some guilt. Just thinking, what if he didn't ostracize the boy and kept him in? Kakarot wouldn't be in this current situation. He felt like it was his fault, but he wasn't going to admit it.

"I would never do something like that," Mai told Pilaf. The girl looked down, still. "If there's one thing about Kakarot, he always wanted to face something, no matter how big or bad it was. When I told him that Soba and I knew how to fight, he practically forced us to train and fight him, together, mind you!" Having those memories come back to her, Mai grinned. In those times, Kakarot was such a rowdy boy, though, for some reason, she always considered him sweet. At least to her, he was always nicer.

"Uh..." Soba blinked. "I'd love to go back down memory lane with you guys, but did any of you check today's date?"

"Well, yes," Pilaf answered Soba. "Today is May 12th, 752. Why?"

"Today is a full moon!" Soba yelled at the top of his lungs.

Mai, Soba, and Pilaf all turned their heads, looking into the ruby skies. The sun was down now and the full moon could be seen, even though it still wasn't night yet.

"Shit!" Pilaf yelled at the top of his lungs. The blue imp dashed over towards the inside of his ship in order to start it so they could get the hell out of dodge. "We need to get out of here! Now!"

"Right, sir!" Soba went running behind Pilaf, in a panic as well.

Mai stood by the railing of her ship. She had a look of worry, not for her own safety, but for the safety of Kakarot. The young woman thought back on how unfairly she treated him when he happened to make one simple mistake all those years ago. She had guilt since that very night, though she never came to terms with it until today. "I'm sorry..." The girl followed after Soba and Pilaf, heading away from the area.

Down below, Piccolo was looking down on the boy Kakarot, who just managed to get back up on his two feet. He was still extremely weak, not able to move his legs for a step forward. The boy was in excruciating pain, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't love it. Even if he was in a situation as bad as he was now, the simple need to fight was always satisfied, win or lose. He just didn't like losing, though.

Piccolo eyed Kakarot, a smile of victory plastered on his face. The one true challenge he's ever had in his entire life still wasn't anything for his true power. nothing was capable of standing in his way and he knew it. The end of this boy was just beginning. "No matter what time of the day or night you come you die either way! BUAHAHAHAHAhA!"

"Do I?" Kakarot asked. He looked into the sky. The sun had set and the skies were no longer red. The dark night was bestowing itself upon them, which revealed the dazzling stars that were lightyears above the clouds. "The stars look beautiful, wouldn't you agree?"

Piccolo's smirk disappeared and he just stared at the fallen boy, not catching what he was getting on about. "Who the hell cares about stars, boy? You're about to die!" Piccolo rushed in on Kakarot and got a clean punch in.

Kakarot's jaw nearly broke as he was sent flying once more. The boy was twirling inches above the green grass before his back came into hard contact against a small home from afar. A large crack could be seen as he slid down onto his butt. Kakarot still had a smile...a bloody smile but a smile nonetheless. He looked into the sky, taking a look at the full moon. As the night came, the full moon was finally becoming its true self. The sparkling light it gave the land was alluring, being able to catch the eye of any person in any given situation, even one as brutal as this. "And such a beautiful moon..."

Piccolo's eyes squinted. "What?"

Kakarot's heart began to pump hard. Piccolo looked from the moon and back towards Kakarot. "What the hell..." He looked at Kakarot, who was beginning his transformation.

RIPP!

Piccolo was speechless. The pants and shoes all torn to mere pieces as he started to grow in size, his bulging muscles starting to grow brown fur on it. Piccolo, not able to figure out what the hell was going on, was getting somewhat agitated. As Kakarot grew larger and larger in size, the more Piccolo was getting irked and somewhat intimidated. "I won't stand by your shenanigans any longer!" Piccolo mirrored the same technique he used earlier in attempt to end Kakarot's life. "Bakurikimaha!" He unleashed his explosive demon wave at the growing simian, who was well over 30 feet tall by this point. The attack Piccolo rendered Kakarot didn't inflict any damage onto the growing primate at all. The boy was growing inch by inch every second, now over 60 feet. Piccolo watched, utterly incredulous as he was now towered over by a monster. Piccolo was now staring at a hundred foot beast, who more than likely had the desire to crush him.

Having completed his transformation, Kakarot let out a loud roar into the sky. The riveting and orotund war cry coming from this beast shook every single home in the area, having them all fall to pieces as soon as the sound waves from the roar came into contact with them. Piccolo could feel the ground shake as he looked up to the sky. "This is impossible!" Piccolo yelled. He knew well enough that the boy had to have grown much stronger now after this. With a grand sense of desperation, Piccolo fired small, circular balls of ki at Kakarot with rapid fire.

Not one bit was Kakarot fazed by any of the blasts. This only angered him as the tiny feeling of stings got the beast from all around. Piccolo for the first time since the day he was trapped into the Mafuba truly felt fear. Kakarot, after having transformed enough times, gradually grew more and more conscious of his surroundings. "You're dead!" his loud booming voice shouted.

Piccolo was wide-eyed. "N-No way..." It turned out that the beast wasn't just some senseless primate after all. It had a conscience.

The giant Oozaru Kakarot slowly started to make way towards Piccolo, every step he taking shaking the ground violently. Piccolo was getting very frustrated. He hopped into the sky, going for the ape head on. "Let's see how you like this!" He fired his attack head-on into Kakarot's snout.

Kakarot sent his hand through the small smoke surrounding his face. Due to his long arms, he smacked Piccolo dead on, the demon crashing towards the ground. The green demon flipped over and landed on his feet safely. "I-I can't believe this...!" Piccolo growled, sweating bullets. His frustration was easily visible by the many veins sticking out on his large forehead all around his antennas. He looked back at Kakarot, hissing at him. "YOU LITTLE SHIT! I WILL KILL YOU!" Piccolo held his hand out. "BAKURIKIMAHA!" This time Piccolo put everything he had into this single attack, hoping to end it all.

Kakarot countered with a beam of his own, which emitted from his mouth. It easily overpowered Piccolo's attack and made way towards said man, who was now in great danger. Piccolo quickly turned back and hopped as far as he could to avoid being hit by the attack. No matter how far he went, the impact of the blast behind him was strong enough to blow him away, sending him sliding through the grass.

Kakarot laughed in his Oozaru form, the deep menacing voice striking a chord on his victim, one of true fear. Now having complete control over his monstrous form, he slowly walked towards the fallen Piccolo, his loud steps getting closer and closer. "I won't show any mercy!" All of the aching his body went through prior to transforming was completely gone. His adrenaline was through the roof and he only focused on one thing: Murder.

Piccolo wiped the nervous sweat falling down his face, pupils dilated. "I can't win against this beast..." He started breathing quick and heavy. To accept defeat at a time like this wasn't something the green man could just easily accept. "BUT I'M PICCOLO DAIMAO!" he shouted out into the sky, his arms out into the air. "I shouldn't lose to the likes of some filthy ape!"

Kakarot stopped walking and started running. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

THUMP!

THUMP!

Each big step Kakarot took shook the entire place.

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!

He started to run faster. A big, 100-foot ape was coming at Piccolo and it was coming full speed. Anybody could experience this in a dream, but it was truly happening! Piccolo turned around and began to run as well, as fast as his legs could remotely carry him. As he ran he looked behind him to see how close the monster was to him. Piccolo couldn't believe it, seeing how fast the beast was closing in on him. "N-No way...!" Kakarot was right on his tail. Seeing no other choice Piccolo hopped into the air and began to go flying.

Kakarot mocked him by laughing as he smacked Piccolo right back down face first into the ground. He kicked up dust as soon as he landed down. "COUGH COUGH

Kakarot raised his foot just above Piccolo, getting ready to slam on his body. "You won't be running anymore!" He crushed Piccolo's legs.

"RAGHHHH!" Piccolo screamed at the top of his lungs.

Kakarot just chuckled and removed his foot from Piccolo's legs, which now looked like boiled noodles. All Piccolo Daimao could do was crawl now. Unfortunately, he wasn't even given a chance. Kakarot picked him up by one of his arms, trying his best not to crush him. Kakarot brought Piccolo to where they were facing one another face to face. The first thing he saw was Kakarot's devilish, red eyes.

Piccolo was now on the other side of the field. Before, he was the one going to kill Kakarot, retaining his title as the king of the earth. Now, his world was flipped completely upside down. Kakarot stuck his finger out right at Piccolo. "Your fate ends here..."

Piccolo was beaten and he knew it. His three-day reign was shattered to pieces by a mere 15-year-old boy who had the size of an eight-year-old, now in the form of an abnormal beast. Kakarot poked Piccolo's stomach using his pinky finger. "I'm going to enjoy this..."

Piccolo couldn't even scream the moment Kakarot rammed his pinky finger right into his stomach. He stared into the beast's eyes, not even wanting to look down. He could feel the blood trickling from his insides onto the finger's of Kakarot's, prior to dripping from the bottom of his gigantic fingers. Daimao was sent crashing into the ground once more, this time much harder than before. He resided in a small crater, barely able to move.

Kakarot stood there, standing over the fallen king. Kakarot had no way of reverting back to normal unless the moon was destroyed or he didn't have his tail. He looked behind him, thinking about it. The boy sure as hell didn't want to lose the only thing to give him such a substantial increase in power, so he then at the moon. "Well..." Kakarot opened wide, letting a grandiose amount of energy from his body from his mouth.

The moon exploded into pieces. Kakarot watched the fireworks as the bright light of the moon was there no more. It was pitch black, and everything was much harder to see. The only thing that illuminated small areas were the red eyes of the beast itself "Now you don't have anything to watch as you di-"

KABOOSH!

Piccolo's body had expanded in size momentarily prior to detonating unexpectantly. Kakarot stood there, completely confused. The boy didn't have a chance to make a comment of any sorts at all. He could feel himself reverting back to his normal. Beginning with the snout that started to retract back into the normal mouth of a regular humanoid, then continuing on the fading fur, pieces of his skin coming back to him once more. The most noticeable change was the boy's height, which decreased significantly.

He went from a hundred foot simian to a four-foot 15-year-old boy again...a naked boy. Once he reverted back to his normal form, the boy could feel the aches and pains all over his body again. If it was up to him, he'd just rest there on the battle scene...but he had a family to get back to. He ignored the throbbing pain he had all over as he lifted himself off the ground.

"Ah..." Not wasting any time, Kakarot ascended off into the sky to arrive back at the castle he had come from.

* * *

The entire time as Kakarot went out to go ahead and fight Piccolo, Gyumao and Chi-Chi both were busy wondering if Kakarot even lasted a second or not. It had been a good while, more than half an hour. Gyumao was sitting down on his humongous bed, looking down at the ground. By this point, he was truly beginning to believe that Kakarot died at the hands of Piccolo. He didn't know if he'd be able to live with such a thing: saving a kid's life just to send him off to die.

Chi-Chi was in her own room, the very room she let Kakarot sleep in. The girl, much like her father, was seated. Her purple sheets covered her hands, which were pressed against her face. For a while now, she had been simply there, taking in the scent from Kakarot's body.

"I hope he's okay." If the boy was to come back, Chi-Chi for sure would try to have him stick around. For some reason, she felt compelled to be with him, as far as marriage went. She was the only person to look past the savage side of him and came to adore him, even with the lack of time she spent with him. Chi-Chi felt that if she was to get to know Kakarot, then she'd be able to see a different side of him, a good one. She'd just have to bring it out.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Chi-Chi hopped up the moment she heard the knock at the front door of her home. The first thought that came to mind was if it was Kakarot that finally managed to arrive. She exited her room in a hurry, anticipating to see the boy she was crushing so hard on. Gyumao heard his daughter run right past his room with little taps of her feet going by so quickly, she took on opening it herself. Chi-Chi swung the door open, hoping to see whom she was expecting.

"Yo," Kakarot greeted with a pained smile.

Chi-Chi caught that he had just got from his fight with Piccolo and noted by all the blood and bruises over his body. That, however, wasn't what frightened her. The little girl took one look down, not even realizing that Kakarot was butt naked until it was too late. Once she saw him hanging, the girl closed her eyes so quickly. "OH, MY GOOODDD!

Gyumao came running into the living room in a rush after hearing the screams of his daughter. The first thing that came to mind was if it was Piccolo Daimao or not. If so, then he knew he and his daughter was done for. "Huh?" The big guy looked over to Chi-Chi, who fell over on her back. Kakarot stepped through the door with a confused expression on his face.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Gyumao fell over on his back immediately after seeing the naked boy. He thought it was something bad, but as soon as he saw what scared his daughter, Gyumao was taken down by surprise, with a mix of relief as well.

After that awkward moment, Kakarot was given clothes by Gyumao and even more bandages, this time in places where he didn't need them before. The monkey boy was wearing sweatpants with a muscle shirt. It looked like he had on a whole shirt due to all the wraps around his body. The boy was sunk into the couch, relaxing his body. "Eugh..." Kakarot was so relaxed that he finally got to rest for a moment.

"So...you really beat him?" Gyumao asked. This, of course, had to be the only answer. None went up to challenge Piccolo and live to speak about it unless they actually managed to beat him.

"Yes," Kakarot responded with a smirk. "Wasn't even that hard." The Saiyan rose up a bit. "AGH!" He winced in pain and lowered himself back into the couch.

"All that dried up blood and bruises say otherwise," Chi-Chi pointed out, tending to Kakarot's burnt hands, placing an ice pack on them.

"It was..." Kakarot looked to the side, grabbing the ice pack. "...his blood. And he scratched me a bit. But other than that he was nothing."

"No matter," Gyumao spoke. He and Chi-Chi already knew he was playing the tough act, but that truly didn't matter, as long as he was alright, that was all. "As long as you are okay and as long as he is dead, we have nothing to worry about."

"Indeed," Kakarot agreed. "He's no longer alive...because of me! Hehehe..." The Saiyan boy took a lot of pride in being able to overcome such a hard-fought battle. Totally exhausted, the boy's head tilted over to the side, where he then fell asleep.

Both Chi-Chi and Gyumao looked at Kakarot, confused. Was he play sleeping or wasn't he? Had they seen the battle he just endured, they'd have their answer for sure.

Kakarot hadn't remotely realized the reason why Piccolo blew to pieces moments before he prepared to kill him. Piccolo, who was capable of shooting out spawns, spit out his last one prior to his death. The egg flew over Kakarot's giant ape shoulders and traveled away for hundreds of miles.

In that egg lied a complete replica of Piccolo Daimao, his son. The boy matched him in looks to an absolute tee, though being a newborn, he was very small, shorter than Kakarot in fact. He wore the same apparel that his father wore before him. Being the reincarnation of the Demon King, the only thing going through the little boy's head was carrying out his mission to reclaim his title as king, as well as getting revenge.

"I will avenge my father!" the raspy voice of the little boy rang out through the woods, surrounded by nothing but trees. "I hate peace! The world will soon know of me!" Not even just a minute born and the kid was yelling out large aspirations, ones equal to the one that gave birth to him.

Before he was to carry out his goal at reclaiming his place as the king, he was to avenge his father. And before that, he was going to make Kakarot pay...one way or another.


	11. An Inevitable Matchup Pt 2

One of the most refreshing moments of the morning was to wake up to the sweet smell of a homemade breakfast. Ever since Kakarot had gotten rid earth of Piccolo Daimao he rested easy, as well as lived easily, with his new family. Chi-Chi and her father Gyumao had accepted him as if he was one of their own with a true lack of hesitation. During his time living a tranquil life in his new abode, no longer was Kakarot consumed with the same dreams he would experience as a child, seeing the same faces every day. With every night for the past four years, the Saiyan managed to sleep much easier, especially due to the fact that he had someone holding him almost every night. The past few years had passed by rapidly within a blink of the eye. Peace was something very well enjoyed, though it made time pass by quickly. The open curtains to the window of the right of the large room let pass through the bright rays of the early morning sun. His eyes began to flutter as he opened his mouth wide, letting out a deep yawn to start the day "Morning..." He looked over to the left side of him, expecting there to be a certain someone. "Huh? Chi-Chi...?" Upon realizing that someone wasn't there this morning, he grinned. He didn't know why he expected her to be there as she would be up earlier than him every morning in order to prepare their daily breakfast. He stood up and walked out the room, not caring that all he had on was boxers.

Over the past time, Kakarot was no longer that same four-foot teenager he used to be before. Now at the ripe young age of 19, he grew over time. He was well over 5 foot, standing at the height of about the average earthling male. His body composition was much leaner, something he lacked as a kid when he was chubby. His lean figure was very tone, which called attention to Chi-Chi and Gyumao once he hit his major growth spurt. Other than that, nothing more about him had altered. Not one strand on his head changed, nor anything else. His tail grew along with him as well, which swayed slowly from side to side through a small hole from the back of his undergarments.

Once the familiar scent found way to his nostrils, the man grinned. "Breakfast." Without a care in the world, he walked out of his room in simple boxers. "Buenos Dias everyone." He had briefly acknowledged Gyumao, who was watching the television.

"Mornin'," Gyumao greeted, looking immediately back at the television. Despite the older man's age, hadn't change a bit in the look department. He was still as big and tall as he was known to be.

Kakarot watched as Chi-Chi cooked inside Her, like Kakarot, had grown, too. Being the same age as her lover, the female was just about 5'4 now. Prior to making breakfast, Chi-Chi took the time of her morning to flat iron her long, jet black hair that past her slim soft shoulders. The woman usually wore her lavish blue Chinese dress with red trims that perfectly fit her natural slender and moderately curvaceous figure. For the moment, she was nowhere near that look, and for great reason. Kakarot couldn't get enough of the smell that was emitting from the pleasant breakfast that she was cooking. Coming up from behind her, he spoke. "You know you should be resting..." he whispered in her ear, rubbing Chi-Chi's big belly, round belly. By the looks of it, Chi-Chi appeared to as if she was going to have her child at any given moment, yet here she was, doing the usual, despite her late stages of pregnancy. "Never know when it's gonna blow up."

Chi-Chi shook her head, amused by Kakarot's humorous ignorance. "My water is going to break. I'm not going to explode."

"Hm." Kakarot stepped away and went to the cabinet inside the kitchen. Right upon opening the door a smile from ear to ear came upon his face. He looked at the red glass bottle, reading the letters all pushed onto the piece of paper wrapped around it. "I still have to thank you for letting me have this as my personal wine cellar," Kakarot yelled out to Gyumao. His love for wine, much like his appearance, didn't change much at all, simply growing into any ordinary oenophile. "I'll take the morning usual...Sangiovese." He popped the cap above the marble pattern counter and closed the cabinet door.

"All done." Chi-Chi set two different plates of food on Kakarot's table.

"Perfect timing." Kakarot took a sip of the bottle before he dug in.

Gyumao and Chi-Chi were both far accustomed to Kakarot's personal etiquette of eating and didn't let it bother their food. While he was chowing down at his breakfast, Chi-Chi made sure to pass over plate after plate. "This is far more adequate than it should be," Kakarot said with a stuffed mouth.

"We could have bought triple as much if you were to enter the Tenkaichi Budokai..." Chi-Chi mumbled.

Kakarot scoffed subsequent to gulping down an entire plate. "You're still upset about that?" He downed half a quarter of the bottle, washing away the food stuck in his chest. "I didn't feel like fighting, so I stayed out. None of those fools would have provided me a challenge anyway."

"But did you watch it?" Gyumao asked. "Like really. I kept trying to bring it up, but you'd shoot it down."

Kakarot shrugged his shoulders, showing a true lack of interest. Ever since that incident that took place immediately after the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, he always correlated the place with being something of bad luck. He truly wasn't superstitious, but he didn't feel like going back there. Besides, he had nothing more to prove. He had already proven himself champion before. "Not that I really, care of course. But now you've got my attention."

Gyumao shook his head. "The people there...were the same people that were supposed to have been killed by Piccolo. And this mysterious person wrecked everyone...including the twin fighters Lapiz and Lazuli, whom appeared out of nowhere and took the entire shine of the tournament." And after all this Gyumao failed to mention how the region Piccolo destroyed all of a sudden came back out of nowhere. Of course, he himself didn't know the full story of how the Dragon Balls were brought back to bring back the lives of those lost by the hands of Piccolo Daimao, even the moon itself.

"Means they never died in the first place," Kakarot concluded. He didn't for a second take into consideration that the compelling powers of the wish-granting balls had to take part of this. "Even my temporary rival Tien wouldn't have stood up against me. It would have been pointless entering. Besides, we have enough money to last us until the next tournament." Not speaking more on the subject, Kakarot went back down to stuffing his face.

Gyumao and Chi-Chi stopped for a moment and stared at Kakarot. Of course, the man didn't notice at first as all he could think about was breakfast. But the minute his head rose for a brief second he noticed something. "We're losing money quickly," Gyumao said.

"All of the wine you bought the past few years has cut down more than half of our assets," Chi-Chi added. "That's why I urged you to enter. I don't know if we'll make it by next year, if not until the next competition."

"I see..." Kakarot set his fork down. For a brief moment, he remained silent as he had to chew his food before swallowing it. The young male had no idea just they all would manage. They always relied on the great treasures Gyumao had amassed over his lifetime to supply them with everything they either needed or desired. He figured that was the only way they'd live, never thinking of the possibilities of running out. Because of this, nothing else really occurred to him. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"Maybe get a job?" Chi-Chi suggested. "We do have a kid that'll come anytime now. And he'll be another mouth to feed, which will cost us even more for the next 18 years."

"You're right," Kakarot said, seeing where she was coming from. "But all I know is fighting."

"What about selling wine?" Gyumao suggested. "You know all there is about it. You're a complete oenophile and can make a business out of it...become a connoisseur." Gyumao just came up with the idea, not having put much thought into it.

Kakarot stroked his chin, doing the exact opposite of Gyumao. The idea of that piqued his interest surely, though how would he start with it? He knew absolutely nothing about getting a job. "I do indeed like the sound of that. But how do I go along with this?"

"Um...we can use the rest of our money to start a business.?. We have more than enough for you to start off perfectly where you need to."

"Sounds like a great idea," Kakarot said. The guy didn't have any clue how he'd go on about it, though being the opportunist he was, he decided to go for it. Nevertheless, that was his only option at the current moment. He got off his chair and started to make may to his room up the stairs. "I'll be right back."

Chi-Chi tended to the empty plates, placing them on the right vacant side of the sink to wash later on. She grabbed the bottle of wine that Kakarot drunk on and pressed the top of her bottle against her lips, sipping the rest that remained.

"Do you really think he's going to go through with it?" Gyumao asked, his tone full of uncertainty.

Chi-Chi's guess was just as good as her father's. "I know he'll try, but as far as completing the goal..." she trailed off with nothing, simply ending her sentence with a shrug.

Gyumao sighed and looked back to the television, the only thing keeping him entertained at the present moment. Chi-Chi placed the empty bottle of wine on the counter and let the water run from the sink's faucet, preparing to wash the dishes.

After a few minutes passed, Kakarot came downstairs, this time actually dressed. He a basic orange buttoned up shirt with long white sleeves underneath and some jeans with white sneakers. "I'll be off."

A smile appeared on Chi-Chi's face as she washed the dishes. She admired the fact that Kakarot was going to truly try to get a job in order to supply more of their needs, even if he didn't have a general idea of how to start things. "Make sure you stop by the bank on your way!"

"I will!" Kakarot didn't waste any time made his way out the door and closed it behind him. Making it outside for the first time of the day, Kakarot got to take a look at the green grass ahead of him. Before, this castle they lived in used to be surrounded by a huge raging fire, with nothing but broken infrastructure and the bones of dead bodies piled up from the hands of Gyumao himself at the time of his evil deeds. He, of course, was only told of the stories. His entire time being here, Kakarot merely saw the natural beauty of fry pan mountain. "A wine business...not a bad idea at all." Kakarot had a capsule full of the treasures they had left, making sure to use it on funding a business he was bent on starting.

* * *

Lapis and Lazuli hadn't made a reappearance with their friends for the longest time. After the death of Piccolo Daimao and his re-incarnation on the same day, they were both called to the world of Kami. And after failing miserably to beat him in the tournament they left off without a warning back to Kami's place. They both needed the extra training if they were to truly take down the spawn of Piccolo Daimao.

Both had grown into their own, despite being twins. Lazuli and Lapis both were very much alike physically, albeit the male more toned physically. Lazuli cut her long blonde hair, which now only resided by the tip of her chin to avoid it getting in the way of her training. The two wore a white gi with the insignia of Kami, the guardian of earth, in the middle of their shirt.

Kami was an old wise man, one who lived for a couple hundred years in fact. While he was very righteous, anyone would take one look at him and place him into the category of pure evil. Everything about this man said that he was Piccolo, going from the simple skin complexion to his very looks. Both were truly identical, albeit Kami was old with wrinkles, having a cane in hand everywhere he walked.

"It stands noted that the two of you are still not ready to face him," the overseer of earth said. It had been a year since the events of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai transpired and Kami had been training the two in preparation for the threat still. "Had his true identity been revealed in the tournament everyone would have panicked."

"It's obvious he's far too strong for either of us," Lapis stated. The young adult folded his arms. "Truly why bother with him if we're only going to get our asses dealt with?"

"I taught you better than that," Kami said, referring to his mannerisms. He could see by Lapis' body expressions as well as his tone of voice that he was frustrated, though he knew that he taught his pupil how to control his temper.

"We continue to talk about the tournament," Lazuli said with an aggravated sigh. "What happened, what took place. You just keep reminding us how bad we fought. Even being stronger than all of our friends we still stood no chance. Explain to us how can we beat him."

"It quite dawned on me not too long ago," Kami said, his eyes motioning towards the floor of his lookout, made of squares that made a complete circle.

"Just let him explain," Popo defended his master. "Kami will tell you everything you need to know."

The twins kept their mouths shut, allowing Kami to spread his own personal knowledge. "I've thought about it every day and continued to think about why you failed, yet it never occurred to me until now. And it all makes sense. Back when you two were getting used to training and getting used to how things were, it seems to me that fighting side by side would give you all the advantage." Lazuli and Lapis listened closely to what Kami had to say, somewhat interested. "Truly, when I think of one of you fighting it's like I'm thinking of both of you. You fight in sync with together."

"So the solution?" Lapis inquired, seeing the answer was at the tip of the old man's tongue.

"The tournament has matches that are only required for one on one battle. But in a true battle, all is fair. If you were to team up against Piccolo then you'd have a chance. Fighting together makes the both of you a genuine force to be reckoned with."

"See?" Mr. Popo asked. "The two of you are like the yin to the other's yang."

"You do make sense," Lapis said, comprehending what his master spoke to him completely. "I see where you're getting at with this."

"I agree," Lazuli said. "But how exactly do we find him now? We've no idea where he's at."

"That's something neither of you needs to worry about" Kami responded. "As the overlooker of earth, I see everything that goes on in this world. I've been watching Piccolo for some time now. And I could have told you at any moment of where he would be at. But he has something planned today. And you two might be today's heroes."

Lapis and Lazuli eyed each other for a moment, which then followed up by a solid grin. They turned back to Kami, ears open wide. "We're listening."

Pilaf looked through his binoculars, looking at the castle Kakarot resided in from afar. He caught Kakarot as he flew into the sky, going off to handle business. "Damn, he's really grown." Pilaf removed the binoculars once he got a good look at the now adult male, face full of sweat with an expression of extreme worry.

From behind him, a tall man towering over him snatched the object from Pilaf's hands. He looked through it, spotting Kakarot on his way as well. His sharp teeth could be seen with the grin he formed on his face. "Good to know." He looked down onto Pilaf. "Now...break into the house."

Soba gulped. "Uhmm...are you sure you know Piccolo, Ma-junior?" Ma-junior growled at Soba in response, intimidating the anthropomorphic dog. He lowered his head and tucked his tail in, going on with the plan that was set for them from the start. "Kay, we're on it." Soba was the first to run off.

Ma-junior looked behind him, staring directly at Mai. "What are you standing around here for? Get to it!"

"I'm not going to hurt him, nor his family," Mai protested. She, unlike Pilaf and Soba, decided to stand up for what she felt was right. Under any normal circumstances, she would have complied with the wishes of this man, who could kill her at any moment he desired. But what was going here was different. The plan was to send Kakarot a message by making an attack in on his family, those that resided inside the castle up on the mountain. All those memories she had with Kakarot came back to her and she simply couldn't bring herself to carry on with such an atrocious act this malicious being had schemed.

Pilaf's eyes widened at how Mai was standing her ground. He could see the nervous look on her face, one that showed she was certainly fearing for her life. "Are you stupid, Mai? What the hell! He actually knows Piccolo! Why would you not abide by him."

"I'm not going to hurt Kakarot," Mai said once more, raising her tone of voice to make herself very clear about her intentions.

"What about that time when I told you to kill Kakarot when he betrayed us? You pulled a sword on him!. These are only people he knows. It doesn't matter now!"

"I was stupid back then," Mai responded. "I've matured. And besides...I didn't have the intent to kill Kakarot when I drew my sword. It was, in fact, one of the worst decisions I could have made under you."

Soba, the dog, nodded his head. "I-I have to agree on that."

Ma-junior kicked Pilaf away in a sudden burst of aggression. He would never stand for such insubordination, but he still needed them alive for the time being. "Get on with it! Don't mind your idiotic friend." Pilaf scurried off, shaking his head as he held his bruised shoulder. Ma-junior stared at Mai, who stared back. Her actions showed that she lacked total fear, though gazing into her soul which lied behind her dark blue eyes. 'She must care about that fool that much. Hn! It makes me wonder just how much that monkey-tail bastard cares about her...' Ma-junior turned to watch Pilaf and Soba, coming up with another idea in mind.

Pilaf and Soba both walked their entire way up the mountain just to make it over to the entrance of the castle. They both took a look at the doors and tried turning the knob. "Locked," he told Soba.

"Plan B," Soba whispered.

Pilaf nodded, slowly raising his hand.

BANG!

Pilaf gave one hard bang right to the door. The blue imp scurried off to hide behind some bushes. Soba stayed on the side, just waiting for someone to come out. Gyumao opened the door and looked from side to side. "Huh?" He looked around, hoping to see the people that knocked on his door. All of what he saw before he was the basic land that he lived in, which lead to a bit of confusion. "What in the worl-

ZIP!

Gyuamo paused, mouth opened wide. The man didn't know what hit him and fell over on his face, hard. Ma-Junior, seeing what he intended for, grinned. He had fired an attack through Gyumao's midsection from afar, using perfect precision. "Big, ignorant fool." Gyumao lied there, unconscious, losing blood rapidly

"Daddy?" Chi-Chi slowly walked herself into the living room, having heard an unusual loud thud from afar. "Daddy, what's going on?" Chi-Chi made her way to the door where she heard the sound. She looked down below her, spotting her father bleeding out. The sight of her father lying down in his own pool of blood put the young woman in a state of shock. "Wha?" She had no idea whether to believe if this was some sick joke or not, as the looks of her father looked very much authentic.

"Hehehehe..." A menacing laughter from a menace himself could be heard coming from behind the woman. Chi-Chi had the instinctual urge to scream out loud at what her eyes were glued to. Though before she a simple yelp could exit her mouth, she was grabbed from behind and she was forced to remain still. "Quiet, now...wouldn't want to alert anyone, now would we?" Majunior continued to chuckle, his hands covering her mouth.

Piccolo had given Pilaf and Soba the signal to tie her up with a simple motion of his head, going on with the next plan. Just a couple of minutes pass and Chi-Chi is placed on a chair, strapped around it with hard tightrope and her mouth covered with ducktape, just a couple of yards behind the castle's entrance.

"W-why are you doing this?" Mai asked as she came to the scene. "She's pregnant!"

Ma-junior scoffed and grabbed Mai by her arms as well. He had gotten enough of the woman's objections and decided to shut her up, too. "Get another chair and some more tape. We have someone who wants to join her friend here."

Pilaf and Soba froze for a moment. "W-Wait..." They were far too close to Mai to simply tie her up and eventually kill her when all was said and done. Both showed great hesitance, but Majunior wasn't having any of it.

"Did I stutter?" Majunior's tone got a whole lot more threatening than before with a lower pitch, yet it demanded total authority. "Get another chair!"

Pilaf and Soba didn't even bother to look at Mai's eyes as they took off to follow Majunior's orders. The girl was kicking and moving around, trying to break free of Majunior's type grip. The green skinned male just chuckled as she was making pointless attempts at escaping.

Chi-Chi looked into the eyes of the man who had the woman captive. He had on a purple gi with a blue band around his waist. Most of his looks were hidden as he wore a turban and a cloak, which covered a major part of his clothing. His malicious grin sent chills down her spine. For the first time in her life, she was face to face with a psychopathic murderer with a lack of conscience. Without the support of Kakarot, she was totally lost and felt helpless, only hoping that he'd come to the rescue just in time.

* * *

Half an hour had passed and Majunior was still waiting. During this time, he made Pilaf and Soba spend a couple of minutes to tying up Mai, placing her right next to Chi-Chi. A lot of time was passing by, though Majunior had put much thought into his plan and was loving every second of it.

It was still morning, but Kakarot's day was practically over now. He was on his way home, in a rather good mood to be exact. The His attempt at making his own business went much smoother than he thought it would go and was satisfied enough that it was just as simple as making a bed. Once Kakarot caught a slight glimpse of the house he was a bit happier. "Now...I can share the news." He slowly began to make his way down as he got closer to Fry Pan Mountain.

Once he landed just on the side of the entrance, he noticed that the door was open. He knew this was quite unsual and looked around. "Huh?" Looking down, he could see the father of Chi-Chi down on the ground, totally out of it. "...Gyumao!" Kakarot dashed down and kneeled just beside him, an expression of concern. He felt like it was a little too late to bring the big guy back, but Kakarot still made an attempt to get him back by shaking him. "Gyumao!" "Wake up...wake up!"

Kakarot grabbed the man's arms and checked for a pulse. He waited a couple of seconds and didn't receive anything. The Saiyan didn't need further confirmation and bowed his head in disappointment. "fuck..." Kakarot was initially quite nervous for the man. But subsequent to figuring out that he was gone, he calmed down a bit, having to come to acceptance with his loss. "Rest in Peace, big guy." Now the main thing he had to focus on was Gyumao's murderer. Not to mention, he was worried about his lover.

"Kakarot!" Mai shouted, catching his attention. "Don't come any closer!" Unlike Chi-Chi who was wrapped up next to her, Mai had taped ripped from her mouth. She took advantage of this so she could warn him, but that was exactly the plan.

Kakarot spotted his wife tied up right next to Mai, but she was shut up. Kakarot rose on his two feet and walked right into the house. "Who did this...?" Kakarot looked around, looking for the other two. He knew well enough that Mai wouldn't go anywhere without the company of Pilaf and Soba.. "Where are the other two?"

"Right here!" Soba said from behind, shutting the door.

Kakarot turned around, spotting Soba and Pilaf. "What the hell are you two doing?" The Saiyan made sure to keep his anger in check. Whatever happened to transpire, he knew the two had something to do with it. If it were to be someone else, naturally Kakarot would have blown them away by now. "Explain...!"

"Why would they?" From behind, Ma-junior wrapped his arms around Kakarot's throat.

Kakarot's eyes widened. The man was entirely focused on Pilaf and Soba, so focused that he didn't sense the other presence. "W-Wha...!"

Majunior chuckled. He relished the sounds of Kakarot's attempts at forming words while being choked. "Remember me?" He let go of Kakarot and kicked him in the back.

Kakarot went towards the entrance of his home after being kicked away. He flipped over and slid on his hands, just entering the home. He looked back ahead of himself, seeing Piccolo. Kakarot got back on his two feet, seething. "You did this..."

Majunior chuckled and grabbed Mai after vanishing. He was far too quick for Kakarot, who immediately turned around, seeing Majunior with Mai in hand. "Indeed I did." Taking off his turban, Majunior revealed the green antennas that Kakarot would happen to recognize in an instant. "Miss me?"

Kakarot didn't have words, being left speechless. He didn't even have to think of the name, knowing. "Impossible..." Immediate flashbacks shot through his memory.

Pilaf, Soba, Mai, and Chi-Chi all also had a reaction as equal to Kakarot's. "Indeed, it is I. Piccolo." The man gave off a toothy grin, which resembled Piccolo Daimao's in every way possible.

"I don't buy it!" Kakarot protested. "I killed you." He saw the man blow up before his eyes. There should have been no doubts about it. He killed Piccolo, so there was no way he should be before him right now.

"You killed my father," Piccolo responded. "I am his reincarnation...his true spawn!"

Kakarot was literally shaking, fists folded. He already lost someone earlier today and didn't plan on losing another "If you do anything to Mai..."

Piccolo didn't listen to any of Kakarot's words and blasted a hole right through her chest from behind. He gripped her by the head and tossed her through the door and sliding out into the grass by Kakarot's feet, leaving a fresh trail of blood. "Oops...hehehehe."

"Mai!" Soba shouted. Pilaf was paralyzed, in a state of shock. Everything that he thought was supposed to happen had just taken a completely different turn...for the worst!

Kakarot had got enough and wasn't going to bother standing by and let his anger build anymore, so he rushed over to Piccolo and tried to punch him. Piccolo leaned back a little before blocking Kakarot's fist with his hand. "Hm. You've slightly improved...but not by much." He grabbed the young man by the wrist and slung him away.

Kakarot spun mid-air and landed on one hand, both of his legs spread out. His head jerked right back up towards Piccolo, who stood in the same spot. Kakarot's body zapped into nothing, having disappeared. Piccolo didn't move not one centimeter, confident he knew where Kakarot was to come at him next. The moment he felt Kakarot's presence behind him he moved over to the side, missing a direct punch aimed towards the back of the neck.

"Far too predictable," Piccolo commented. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"Who are you to speak?" Kakarot questioned. "You're going to die just like your pathetic excuse of a king did..."

"Try me," Piccolo challenged.

"Rah!" Indeed, Kakarot did try his opponent. And he started off strong, too, firing dozens of energy attacks at rapid rates.

Piccolo smacked the majority of them away, others passing right past him. "Is this truly it?" Piccolo raised his hand and caught the last attack that came from him. "I'm very disappointed." With a little bit of force, Piccolo canceled the ball of energy automatically, having it explode in his hands. He just grinned, having felt nothing but a slight tickle.

Kakarot's fist came through the small cloud of smoke, punching Piccolo dead center in the cheekbone. Piccolo's guard was slightly off, so he had to give Kakarot that one. The result was very much how he expected, with him barely budging, if anything, not at all.

OMPF!

Kakarot was at his knees, clutching his stomach and gasping for air. "You truly thought since you killed the strongest man to walk among this world that you were unstoppable, so you let yourself get complacent...form a family." Kakarot couldn't respond to the man at all, still wheezing for air. Piccolo grimaced at his father's killer. "But there is always someone better, idiot."

Kakarot was sent sliding by a kick to the face. "Kakarot!" Chi-Chi yelled at the top of her lungs. Pilaf and Soba both got the ducktape and rope off her, though she made sure to stay inside the house. "Beat him!"

"For Mai," Soba mumbled.

Pilaf nodded, a solemn look on his face. "For Mai."

"I suggest you shut up so you don't die," Piccolo warned, looking over at her.

Kakarot got back up, wiping the blood from his lip. He took off the polo shirt he had over his White-T, getting himself more comfortable. "Just as good as new. Now let's start over."

"I'm going to have fun recoloring that shirt red."

Kakarot ascended into the air and shot forth one small ball of energy. Piccolo took the challenge and rushed directly for the attack. Once again he caught Kakarot's attack and slammed it right back into Kakarot's face. The Saiyan was soaring through the air.

"COUGH COUGH!" Mai's body jerked up, spitting out a mouth full of blood.

"Mai!" Both Pilaf and Soba ran over to her with great urgency.

The woman was on the brink of death, blood falling down her cheek, not having that that much strength left in her. "I-I'm sorry..." was all she could say as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. All they could see as they looked into her eyes was pure white.

"MAI!" Pilaf and Soba yelled at the top of their lungs.

Kakarot looked down as he was in the sky. He noted Pilaf and Soba mourning over the death of not just their comrade, but their friend as well. "No...!"

Piccolo punched Kakarot in the face, seeing he was distracted. "Worry about yourself!" He placed his hands right on Kakarot's chest and blasted him head-on.

Kakarot crashed down, hitting his back hard. He bounced up and landed directly on his face. Kakarot got back up, looking at Piccolo as he made way towards him, wiping more blood from his face. He had a hole in his white shirt, revealing his bruised chest that had steam coming from it. "I didn't think I'd have to actually fight ever again." The Saiyan had a small grin. "I can't say I'm not excited...but I can admit that I'm pissed!"

"Don't tell me you think you still have a fighting chance." He snorted and spat on the grass, disrespecting Kakarot's home.

"I do!" Kakarot rushed for Piccolo once more, flying just above the ground.

Piccolo spun around, missing Kakarot by a mere inch. As he faced Kakarot once more he grabbed the young man by his shoes and slammed him down face first. Piccolo sighed, quite disappointed by how much of a miserable performance was being put up against him. "Alright. If you still think you're going to win..." Piccolo took off his turban and let it drop. "Catch."

Kakarot rolled over on his stomach, then just spotting one of Piccolo's pieces of clothing falling on him. Kakarot went to catch it but was hit hard by the sheer weight of it. His eyes bulged out a little at the weight, having not expected it to hold so much. Piccolo then proceeded to take off his cloak, which was weighted as well. He dropped it right atop Kakarot, giving the young man an even harder time.

Kakarot groaned as soon as it hit him. "G-Grugh..." He attempted to push the weight off him, though it was a few tons far too many for him, which he barely managed to pick up.

Piccolo shook his head. "Once a rival...now an insect."

Kakarot's face started to get red. "You...!" slowly he began to rise. "I'll get you!"

Piccolo just waited. "Fine." He began to charge energy in his hand, awaiting Kakarot to get up on his two feet.

"GRGh!" Kakarot threw it above his head, having put all effort into doing so. He was breathing heavily, his muscles extremely inflamed just by lifting such weight. "Now onto the real fight!"

"Indeed!" Piccolo didn't send any warnings and attacked Kakarot head-on with a great amount of ki. Kakarot was sent back for dozens of yards and eventually landed, having the attack explode immediately after.

Kakarot rolled continuously on the ground, coughing in the smoke that consumed him. "A-Argh...!" He scrunched his face, trying his best to endure the pain.

Chi-Chi was slowly losing hope as she witnessed her man getting beat effortlessly. She had seen Kakarot in action before and knew that he didn't perform like this unless he was overpowered.

Piccolo was behind Kakarot and had his feet stomped right over his head. "This should be fun..." Piccolo went to grazing Kakarot on his back with a thin line of hot energy, in the shape of a beam.

Kakarot wanted to let out a scream as Piccolo continued to scorch his back while he laughed out loud maniacally, but for one Kakarot's own pride would never let him show how much pain he was in. And for the two...his face was stuffed right into the dirt, muffling his sounds of pain. Piccolo watched the marks on Kakarot's back were there and live. His shirt was completely tattered. He removed his foot off Kakarot's back and sent a myriad of ki attacks, lacking all mercy for his opponent.

"AGGHHHH!"

"KAKAROT!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Chi-Chi, as well as Pilaf and Soba, could hear Kakarot's screams from afar.

Piccolo's satisfaction seemed to have no end as he tortured the Saiyan. Kakarot was lying on the ground, gasping for air once Piccolo stopped for a brief moment. His back was crispy looking, burnt scars all over his back. Never before had he been in so much pain. The slightest movement and he just wanted to fall back down out of helplessness.

"I'll let you suffer before you die just like you did my father," Piccolo spat on Kakarot's back as he stomped on it one hard time, eliciting a loud scream of agony, music to Piccolo's pointy green ears.

Kakarot nearly jumped out his shoes upon feeling that shoe to the back, which was steaming hot. Piccolo licked his lips, not seeming to get enough of this. "Now...onto a finer meal." He looked at Chi-Chi, a devious smirk aimed right at her. "Hehehe...A woman and an unborn baby seem about nice." Piccolo began to walk towards her direction.

"N-No..." Kakarot pushed through, with as much willpower as he could. The pain was excruciating. Every muscle he moved, he felt like his body was on the verge of shutting down. He had the thoughts of his wife and child, whom he wasn't going to let be harmed. Kakarot moved his arms. He winced but he kept pushing on. "I won't let you..."

Piccolo picked up what Kakarot was saying as he continued to walk away. Piccolo chuckled and slowly ascended into the sky, ignoring the weak man's words. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, scum..."

Kakarot rose to one knee. His jaw was shut tight, the pain almost being intolerable. "I won't let you..." Kakarot balled his fist, repeating his words. He closed his eyes. "I won't let you get away with this...!" Searching deep within himself, Kakarot sucked up every single bit of power he had left within him. All until he felt something within him immerge.

All the pain he was feeling suddenly went away, feeling as if nothing happened. Rather than being overcome by pain, it was turned into anger. The Saiyan wasn't going to let himself just remain on his stomach, accepting the death of himself nor those around him. That was something he couldn't permit. There was zero tolerance.

Piccolo looked down at his targets below, ready to give the finishing blow. He struck his hand out. "This is going to be enjoyable." He was beginning to get enough of Kakarot. He expected to have a bit more fun prior to realizing how easy it'd be to overpower his inferior. He knew it would eventually get tiresome. Regardless of the fact, he was going to end Kakarot and go on to make himself king, taking the steps of the one before him.

"I WON'T!" Kakarot, finding the rest of the power within himself, rocketed off the ground and made his way towards Piccolo. "Your end is now!" A blue aura surrounded his hardened fist, all of the energy he had left going into that one point.

Piccolo looked back down. "W-What?" Kakarot was making his way towards him, faster than ever before. It wasn't only that that took him by surprise, but the fact that Kakarot managed to even get back up and find the power to come at him at such velocity. Piccolo knew he wasn't going to be able to dodge this at all and was resorted to merely defending himself the best he could. "My best bet is to block." Even if he didn't look it, Piccolo was fretting over this. He could sense a spike in Kakarot's power and didn't like it one bit. His hands were placed before his stomach, only hoping it'd be able to stop his enemy in his tracks.

"Here..." Kakarot's tone of voice suddenly changed, converting into a deep, booming voice, one that could be heard from miles away. "IT IS!"

Piccolo recognized that sound from anywhere. A sudden flash of the same monster that tortured the Original Piccolo Daimao flashed in his head. Piccolo now remembered that monstrous 100-foot ape. Recollecting how powerful it was, he truly began to worry now.

"W-Was that?" Soba asked, choking on words. He and Pilaf were both amazed as they heard that very familiar, booming tone of voice

Kakarot didn't have to transform into an Oozaru to unleash the power of the Oozaru. Bringing it from within he was going to use it with one single focal point of attack. "DIE!"

And the two came to an automatic stop.

Pilaf and Soba wish they knew that something had to come next, though both were unsure of exactly what as the two were so high in the skies.

Kakarot stood before Piccolo, who shaking. Kakarot's fist was full of blood, Piccolo's blood. His very own hands went right through the green villain's stomach. Both were breathing heavy, especially the fatigued Kakarot. Piccolo could barely get air himself from the impact of such a piercing strike.

Piccolo growled, barely able to form coherent words. "How...HOW DARE YOU!" Piccolo's raised his hands and dug his sharp nails into Kakarot's scorched back. Kakarot let out a low growl, though Piccolo dug deeper and trailed his nail's down the Saiyan's back, making the Saiyan scream yet again as blood gushed from his back, reopening the cauterized wounds.

"RAGHHHH!" Kakarot yelled in Piccolo's ears.

Piccolo laughed through his own excruciating pain at the sound of Kakarot's. "Hahahahahaaha!"

Kakarot released his fist from Piccolo's stomach and started to fall, slowly. Piccolo was far too weak to do anything, soon to follow right after. The scenery of them both descending from up high at the extreme height they were was like watching two angels fall from heaven above. As they fell their blood could be seen spilling through the air along with them, trailing.

THUD!

CRACK!

Both enemies fell hard on their backs, right across from one another. Kakarot's vision was far too blurry, but he remained awake. Piccolo was losing a lot of blood, already having lost a significant amount before. Piccolo slowly managed to pick himself up, despite the gaping hole in his stomach. "I'm not dead...nor am I going to die."

Pilaf, Soba, and Chi-Chi were all mesmerized by Piccolo's will to stand, regardless of his injuries.

Kakarot looked over to Piccolo on his back, eyes at the top of his head. Feeling something weird was going on Kakarot shook his head, trying to clear out his vision a bit. All of a sudden he noted the hole in Piccolo's stomach was no longer there. He wondered if being on the verge of death included hallucinations as well, not believing that Piccolo managed to close his hole. "N-No way..."

Piccolo just chuckled. Kakarot noted the pain in his laughter. It took a lot out of Piccolo to regenerate that one big gaping hole in his stomach. Doing so took a substantial amount of power just to close his wound "Your lives end here. But first..." He turned around. "Let me have some fun." He started to slowly walk at Chi-Chi and the others with a limp.

"Oh no!" Soba panicked. "He's coming right for us!"

Pilaf was frozen in place, not having any idea of what the hell to do. "I-I..."

Chi-Chi gulped down hard, realizing what was to come next. Had she not been pregnant, she'd probably be able to defend herself, being a good fighter as well. But in her condition, that was impossible.

"N-No..." Kakarot mumbled under his breath.

"Hehehehee! It's time I take my rightful place back!" Piccolo stood erect, his hands aimed for the three. "Say Good-Bye!"

"Not today you aren't."

"Huh?" Piccolo looked up to the side.

Lapis and Lazuli appeared, landing right beside one another. Both twins had their arms crossed, looking at Piccolo with hard glares. Seeing him in such a condition reinforced the thought that they'd handle him no problem.

Piccolo immediately recognized them from the martial arts tournament, where he was hoping to kill them. He attempted to kill Lapis in the first round, though accidentally won by ring out, so he had to proceed onto Lazuli, whom he also beat. Unfortunately, he wasn't successful in completing his goal once Kami stepped in. "You two? Pft! What are you doing here?"

"We're going to stop you once and for all," Lapis said.

"What else did you think, chump?"

Piccolo just grinned. 'While I may be far weaker now, there's no way these fools can take me on as is.' He recalled how badly he beat them both in the tournament and figured he'd be able to repeat it, though having an end result with the both of them dead. Piccolo made his way towards them, running as fast as he could. "So be it!"

Lapis stood in front of Lazuli, his arms stretched out. "Badasses first."

"Then you die, first!"

Lapis disappeared so suddenly that is caught Piccolo by surprise. He had stopped, wondering where he could have gone. Lazuli punched him in the face, sending Piccolo just above the ground. Lapis came from above, ramming his feet into Piccolo's chest. The impact had Piccolo's back crash hard into the green grass, kicking up some of the plants. Lapis hopped backward, right by his sister's side.

Piccolo groaned, getting back up. He clutched his chest, rubbing it hard. "You two...!"

"You stand no chance," Lazuli remarked. "So get the hell out of here and don't even think about coming back either."

Piccolo grunted. "You only defeat me because I'm far too weak to take you fools on. I'd embarrass you just like I did last time."

"You have five seconds," Lapis. "And I won't hesitate in killing you."

Lazuli shoved Lapis' shoulder. "What about Kami?"

"Kami?" Piccolo listened closely. The green man then began to chuckle. "Oh, yes! Hahahaha, you fools can't kill me. If you do, then Kami goes, too!" He had a wide smirk on his face. "And you care too much for the old man to just erase him alongside me. Hehehe, you're just gonna let the devil walk the earth?"

"Five!" Lapis sent a giant wave of ki right after Piccolo.

Piccolo hopped in the air, barely being able to dodge it. He came back down, on one knee. The movements he was making were noted to take somewhat of a toll on him, sweat falling to the ground from his face. He finally saw just how he wouldn't be able to beat either of the two. This pissed him off, though he knew he had to escape so he could come to fight another day. "This isn't over. None of this is over." He then looked over to Kakarot. "You're not ever going to leave this world alive."

Kakarot chuckled, barely conscious. "Go home, weakling."

Piccolo swallowed his pride and elevated into the air. "My reign of terror will begin one day!"

Kakarot rolled over, moaning in pain as he did. He slowly managed to pick himself back up on his two feet, but it felt like hours just being able to get on one knee.

Both Lapis and Lazuli immediately recognized the man as he stood up. "Isn't he that ruthless boy that participated in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai?"

"Yeah." Lazuli then grinned. "He's grown, too."

. "I...I can't believe this." He turned to Lapis and Lazuli, huffing and puffing. "Thank you."

Lazuli checked her wrist, looking at is as if she had a watch. "Well won't ya look at the time. We've got to go." Lazuli hopped into the sky.

"You're welcome." Lapis threw Kakarot a small brown bag, which Kakarot caught. Lapis saw the man eying it, and with great suspicion. "Don't worry. It's not poisonous or anything. It'll heal you. Deuces!" Lapis shot into the air, trailing behind his sister.

Kakarot kneeled down over, his legs getting far too weak for him to stand for another second. He reached into the bag and pulled out a green bean the size of a pebble. "A green bean." Kakarot knew one thing he did with beans and that was eat them. Figuring this was no different, he plucked it into his mouth. He chewed on it for just moments at a time. "Heh." He didn't feel any difference, but a second later, it hit him and it hit him hard. His eyes shot wide open. "WHOAH!" Kakarot was completely healed. Not only did he feel the energy he had prior to fighting be replenished, but he felt even more power. All of the damage done to him felt like they never happened. All the bruises and scarring were gone. He felt totally new. "What are these things..." Kakarot examined the bag, mesmerized at the power of the beans secluded inside. "I should figure out how to grow these one day..."

Kakarot got up and looked over to Soba and Pilaf. He put the bag of health beans away in his torn jean pants and walked over to them. The two were still over by Mai's dead body. Kakarot kneeled down before the two, paying his respects to the one he called sister. The look on Pilaf and Soba's face said it all. All of them had a great loss, and the current emotion they were feeling was very mutual.

Each had their eyes closed, giving Mai a moment of silence. Everything that transpired between them in the past began to flow into their heads, like a fresh memory coming back. Unfortunately, their moment of reminiscence came to an abrupt end.

"AWWWWWW!" Came the loud scream inside the house from none other than Chi-Chi.

Kakarot, Pilaf, and Soba all looked inside the house. "What the?"

Pilaf looked down at Chi-Chi's feet. Upon spotting a puddle of liquids he passed out. Kakarot looked towards him, surprised at his former comrade's sudden falling out. "Pilaf...!"

"She's going into labor!" Soba exclaimed. While much a dog, he knew a thing or two about humans. No doubt with her big belly and the water leaking, she was bound to have her child.

"You're kidding me..." Kakarot stood up. "Place Mai in a cool capsule to preserve her body," Kakarot demanded and bury it in the front yard. He began to walk over to Chi-Chi, who was seated in the chair behind her, yelling at the top of her lungs.

"I have a kid to deliver."


	12. Two Presents

In the home, everyone was completely silent. After the events that transpired just moments ago, a great amount of tension was in the air. Everyone in the house at the current moment each felt a great loss. Pilaf and Soba had the loss of their partner in crime, Mai. Chi-Chi lost her father, though she had no time to mourn his death as she was focused on going into labor. Kakarot had the great misfortune of losing both, considering the two very close to himself as family. One his sister and another a supportive friend. Chi-Chi herself needed a lot of rest for the day and not to mention the baby could feel the tension all around. It was a boy, wrapped around in a white blanket with a simple patch of hair on his smooth tiny head. The silence in the house managed to calm down everyone, including the newborn baby that came out wailing. Kakarot, who didn't even go ahead to change his battle-worn damaged clothes, was seated on a sofa, holding his quiet newborn in his arms.

Chi-Chi was in the back, soundly asleep, whilst everyone else remained in the living room. All of what just took place moments ago wasn't simply forgotten. Having a long moment of silence, everyone had a lot of time to reflect. Pilaf looked at the sleeping baby. Across the widespread livingroom, he felt a bit of nostalgia coming at him. "Uhm, excuse my asking...but may I?"

Kakarot eyed Pilaf, giving him a look of displeasure, putting Pilaf in a nervous mood. "May you what?"

Pilaf spotted the baby just opening his eyes. "Look!" he pointed. "His eyes are open."

Soba leaned in closer as well. The newborn baby just looked oddly at two peculiar people staring at him, bewildered. He was only used to the voices of his parents and grandfather, so he could tell that the two looking at him was very unfamiliar. "To think you'd ever have a child," Soba mumbled under his breath.

"If he's even as half as rowdy as Kakarot was, then you're going to have problems," Pilaf remarked.

Kakarot stared at his child, also holding him awkwardly by having the kid simply placed on his lap with a lack of support for his head. "Give him here," Soba said. "That's now how you hold a child."

"What do you mean? He doesn't seem to be complaining to me."

"You're not protecting his head," Soba answered. He picked the boy up, placing one arm on his butt and the other around the head. With the baby safely in his arms, he casually bounced up and down to comfort him. The baby yawned, still a bit tired. "Heh!" Soba smiled. "I think he likes me!"

"That may be so." Kakarot looked right out the front door, where Gyumao was murdered just a while ago. He could still see the old man's body lying just in front the door, laying the sight out in his head. "Quite a shame he'll never get to meet his grandfather." Upon standing himself up off the couch Kakarot went over to the cabinet, grabbing an entire bottle of wine.

"I see your love for wine never went away," Pilaf said, walking over to Kakarot's kitchen. Hopping off the ground, Pilaf pulled himself up on one of the chairs. The chair was so big that just by sitting in it alone Pilaf wouldn't be able to see over the counter. So he stood on it, his head just inches above it, able to see Kakarot perfectly.

The two remained silent for a little bit. Kakarot glanced over towards Soba, who was holding his newborn child. He then looked back over to Pilaf, whom he noted to be twiddling his thumbs. The suddenly intense silence converted into awkward silence. Pilaf had things he wanted to say, as did Kakarot.

"Listen I-" Both started.

Immediately they paused.

"No...you first." Pilaf pointed at Kakarot.

Kakarot merely took a swig out of his wine bottle. He shook his head, placing the glass down. "No. You first."

Pilaf sucked in a deep breath. Kakarot awaited patiently. Then out of nowhere, Pilaf came out with everything. "Thetruthisthatiamverysorryfortryingtokillyousolongagoiwishyoucouldforgivemeplease!Themomentisawyouithoughtyouweregonnakillmebecauseofhowstrongyouare!youdefeatedhimtwiceandidontwanttogooutlikehim!YouavengedMaiandforthatIthankyou." Pilaf inhaled deeply after finishing all he needed to get off his chest, a little trickle of sweat began to form on his face. In his mind he initially thought he'd be able to say everything he just did with no problem.

But even still Kakarot nodded, having understood all of what Pilaf had just said in 5 seconds flat. The Saiyan was quite pissed off, though he waited until he was given the clear for saying what he needed to say as well. He took another swig of the wine out the bottle before setting it down.

"Now your turn," Pilaf pointed at Kakarot, still breathing a bit heavy.

Kakarot figured he wasn't going to beat around the bush and give Pilaf a taste of his mind. So without even just dipping his toes in the water, he dived right in. "Here. I just wanted to let you know that the moment you left me, I felt this similar feeling to what I had when I was just a little boy...I had to be about three?. This feeling as of not being wanted. You take me in, raise me, but then leave me as if I was just useless trash onside the road. In my mind I've thought of finding you, Mai, and Soba, and slaughtering you all. But you knew that I had too much of a weak stomach to go out and kill anyone, nonetheless you guys because I can admit that I care for you. Yes, I was angry, upset...but I got over it in my own way." Kakarot's solemn facial expression quickly turned dark. Pilaf felt a cold feeling quickly go down his spine as Kakarot began to speak in a low, smooth, yet somehow malevolent tone. "But I want this to weigh in on your conscience." Kakarot poked Pilaf in the chest, his arms across the table. "You are the reason that my son will only see his grandfather for the first time in a cryogenic casket. You are the reason why two lives have been lost today. You are the reason why Mai has left this world." Kakarot leaned closer. "And...YOU are the reason why Mai is dead."

Pilaf wasn't able to look Kakarot in the eyes, feeling such shame and guilt. Kakarot wanted him to feel this and remained with the hard stare that Pilaf felt for sure. This was Kakarot's way of getting back at Pilaf, after so many years. Even understanding the majority of what Kakarot just told him, there was still one part he did not quite reach to understand. "But...we can use the dragon balls? To bring Mai back...right?" He slowly looked at Kakarot, a little glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Kakarot raised an eyebrow, having genuinely forgotten about the use of those orbs. But even still his answer would definitely remain the same.

The moment Kakarot just shook his head Pilaf looked back down at the counter, upset. " I'm going to let it weigh in on your conscience, as well as Soba, that we are never going to retrieve someone we both had affection for at one point in our lives." Kakarot took another swig. He could feel himself getting a bit intoxicated as he got one of the more potent bottles of wine. Whatever he spewed was whatever he felt would hurt Pilaf the most. He himself didn't even believe what he responded in respect of the suggestion to use the Dragon Balls to wish them back. "That's on you, Pilaf." Kakarot walked off into the living room, sitting back down on the couch. And in doing this Kakarot made sure that Pilaf got the message that all of this was on him. And the biggest part about this is that Kakarot didn't even know Pilaf released Piccolo in the first place. And just thinking about that made things worse for Pilaf inside, who wasn't sure he was ready to admit that fact yet.

And once more the situation got awkward for Pilaf. But this time things were far worse.

Deciding to put himself at ease Pilaf went ahead and opened his mouth, going onto to an entire different topic. "So..." Pilaf was still twiddling with his thumbs. "Isn't this the part where we're supposed to name the kid?"

"You're right," Soba came into the kitchen with Pilaf, the baby in his arms. "I never thought of it at first, but you're right. We do need to think of a name for the little guy." In his arms the boy was sleeping peacefully, unaware of what was taking place around him.

"So what do we name him then?" Kakarot asked Soba. "Right now I'm all out of ideas."

"Couldn't you possibly think of a name right now?" Soba asked. "Because if the baby was a girl I would have been named it Mai."

"We can still call him Mai," Pilaf brought up.

Kakarot rubbed on the bottle of wine he drunk out of. It was as if stroking his own chin. "I don't think so," Kakarot said. "Doesn't sound well off with me."

"You can't think of at least one name?" Soba asked. "Just one!"

Kakarot shrugged. "Kilt...?"

"That's not what I quite have in mind," Soba said, disapproving that name.

"We should probably ask Chi-Chi," Kakarot suggested.

"But she just had a kid and she's sleeping," Pilaf answered. "Why would we want to go and wake her up right now? She needs to rest."

Kakarot pulled out a bag of beans in his hand. "You'll see," he said with a grin. "Follow me." Kakarot lifted himself off the sofa and started to make his way towards the back room where Chi-Chi was resting.

Pilaf and Soba, who was holding Kakarot's son, were all in the empty guest room, which only consisted of a bed for two and some vacant drawers. Kakarot stood by the bedside, watching his wife rest, a sense of tranquility coming from her. Kakarot grabbed her shoulders in attempt to wake her up. "Chi-Chi..." he shook her. "Chi-Chi...wake up...!"

Chi-Chi groaned. "Kakarot...what is it? I'm trying to sleep." The woman was still feeling very sore due to giving birth to their kid. Her hair was full of dried out sweat, and it was noted that the robe she had on was a bit wet as well.

Kakarot pulled out one of the green beans from his pockets. "Here...put this in your mouth." Kakarot began to press the green bean inside.

"Kakarot the last time we did this I bit your..." Kakarot immediately shoved the bean into her mouth, shutting Chi-Chi up before she could finish, preventing her from embarrassing him in front of Pilaf and Soba, who looked at one another awkwardly.

Kakarot looked back at Soba and Pilaf. Both kept their mouths completely shut before they could even comment on what Chi-Chi just said. Kakarot squinted his eyes and looked back at his wife. "No, it's not that. This is something different."

"Mm..." Chi-Chi started to chew. "Okay." She could tell this was entirely different by the taste of the bean.

Kakarot stood up and backed up a little. He crossed his arms and just waited. In a moment's notice, Chi-Chi's eyes shot right open. Kakarot chuckled once he saw the effects were very much the same for her as it was for him. "How do you feel?"

Chi-Chi removed the covers that she had placed on her and rolled out of bed. "I feel...like our child was never born...I feel energized and back to one hundred percent." Chi-Chi was shown to be relieved, but also a bit confused.

"This is great because now we can think of names for the kid," Soba commented.

Chi-Chi shook her head. "No...no. Not right now." Chi-Chi rubbed her head. She glanced over Kakarot, Pilaf, and Soba. Upon spotting Soba holding her child she held her arms out. "Give me my boy."

Soba nodded. "I'm sure you know how to hold a child."

"Of course." Chi-Chi took her son. "Odd..." she looked at him, then back at Kakarot. "He has a tail just like you, Kakarot."

Kakarot wagged his tail freely behind him. He then looked towards his newborn. "I suppose you're right."

Chi-Chi then stood up. "Right now we've got to worry about giving my father and your friend a proper burial."

"My sister," Kakarot corrected.

"Sorry. But where are the bodies?"

Pilaf pulled out a capsule. "They've already been buried. I've made sure to put them in a place where their bodies don't decay."

"Thank you," Chi-Chi said. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem."

The mother looked down at her child. Inside, she felt a deep sadness and people could tell it as Chi-Chi wasn't afraid to show it on her face. The loss of her father was hard, but at the very least, she had something to look forward to, him being her only child. A deep void appeared at the moment she lost her father. Once Ox came, she felt a hole slowly sealing back up...though it would take a great time to heal.

* * *

"So...what are they doing now?"

Both Lapiz and Lazuli were behind Kami, watching him looking down. "They've buried the ones that fallen today and...they're all giving their attention to the child."

"So...about this Kakarot..." Lapis started. "He isn't human?"

"No." Kami shook his head. "No baby sent from outer space could possibly be human." Kami stroked his chin. "But the matter is...why was he sent here?"

"Maybe he was sent here to investigate the planet out before his people could come take it over," Lazuli said.

"If that were true, then he would have done it after defeating Piccolo. At that time he was the strongest person on the planet, capable of beating anybody that stood in his way. He'd use that opportunity to take over, but he chose not to. Instead, he went off to where he lives now. After his fight with Piccolo, it could be debated that he may be the strongest now..."

"So what is his problem? Why was he sent here?"

"Maybe he's one of the last survivors of whatever race he is from," Kami responded. "After all his actions throughout the years...I don't know if he was an angel sent from the stars afar...or a demon. I just it'll be a hell of a time before we find out."

"What would make you be confused if he was either of the two?" Lazuli questioned. "There's no grey area when it comes to being bad or good."

"Hm. I'm not sure because I've been watching him from the moment he landed on this planet. His actions of the past are quite questionable, but I can tell he has a good heart, which he has learned to guard over the years, slowly turning into a cold person. The people he lives with now have calmed him down, but I saw his savagery was still there. If he were to try something, which I doubt, it'd be up to the two of you to stop him."

"Hm. We can both take him on," Lapis said. "Perhaps..." he then mumbled under his breath, making sure nobody heard him. Kami, of course, did, though didn't mention anything out of respect.

Kami turned around. "You two provided me with a great service. Throughout all this time allowing yourselves to be trained by me with the guidance of Mr. Popo, you two have given me more joy than I could personally ask for. I couldn't thank either of you enough. So in return, I will let the both of you return to your friends."

"Huh?" Lapis furrowed a brow. "You're joking, right?"

Kami shook his head. "No. Your friends miss you. It's best you go off to see them as soon as possible."

Lazuli smiled. "Don't have to tell me twice!" She ran right past Kami and jumped off the lookout, full of total glee. She hadn't seen her friends in over a year just after not seeing them for three years. So much time apart had her missing them dearly. "Hahaha!" The first person that came to mind was that same ole cocky little boy with six singed dots on his forehead.

Lapis walked on the side of the lookout. "Take care, old man." Lazuli jumped off the lookout as well, trailing behind his sister.

"They'll see me again..."

* * *

"That ain't fair!"

Back at Kame house, the sun was beginning to set. The bright red skies above the beach had brightened the water a bit, making it look a good color. Around a table inside Kame house, Krillin and Roshi were playing poker, Turtle just being the spectator of this friendly play.

Roshi chuckled. "Try again, young blood. No matter what you can't beat me."

Krillin was getting aggravated. He had only grown a bit over the years, though he retained the look of a midget. "The real question is how the hell do you know which hands I'm dealing! I've only beat you once out of 15 times!"

"I say it'd be the turtle," a sudden voice said. One turn and Lazuli could be seen, just hanging about, looking right through the open window of Kame house.

Krillin turned around. "Hey!" He shooed Turtle away. "You damn cheater, get ba-" Krillin stopped. As soon as Lazuli's voice was internalized through his head his head jerked to the side. "Lazuli!" Krillin jumped up, knocking the table right into Roshi's face. The entire deck of cards fell to the floor, which had the old man disappointed. "LAZULI!" Krillin hopped right through the window.

"I guess ya gotta play 52 pick up now," Oolong said, just out from the kitchen.

"Whoah..." Lazuli had to take Krillin head on, being hugged tightly.

"I've missed you soo much!"

Lazuli chuckled. "I've missed you, too." She could feel just how much Krillin missed her by the tight grip of his hug. She patted him on the back, having missed him too.

Lapis just landed beside Krillin and Lazuli. "Looks like I'm late for the party, huh?"

Krillin's eyes widened. "You too, brother get over here!" Krillin wrapped his arms around Lapis.

Lapis just chuckled. "Okay, okay...! Haha!" He rubbed Krillin's smooth, bald head and pat it. "Ya miss me, buddy?"

Krillin rubbed his face into Lapis' stomach. "We've missed you guys so much!"

Roshi exited out the house. "Long time no see!"

Krillin was full of excitement. "Hey!" Turtle came outside as well.

"Man! It's been so long! Since the tournament, right?"

"Yeah," Lapis answered. "We're back for good now."

"You two have gotten stronger over the years."

Lazuli chuckled. "Piccolo had attacked Kakarot and his family. By the time they were nearly dead men walking we had Piccolo running away like the coward he is."

"Really?" Krillin asked. "That's amazing!"

"Wait a moment...Kakarot?" Roshi rubbed his chin. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"He was in the tournament a few years back," Lapis answered. "Remember that little pint-sized kid that managed to beat Tien and take the tournament as his own?"

"Oh yes!" Roshi snapped his fingers. "I know exactly whom you're speaking of."

"Wait...is he still short?" Krillin asked.

"Just think of him as your size," Lazuli responded.

Krillin smirked. "That's cool!"

"Times four," Lapis added.

"oh..."

"Well, this calls for a celebration," Roshi called out. "We should get Yamcha, Bulma, and some others together!"

"Indeed!" Lapis agreed. "Let's have some fun."

Back at Kakarot's house, the sun was setting and the stars amongst them all sounded it out. Pilaf and Soba were on the couch as well as Kakarot and Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi was holding her son in her arms.

"After all this time I still can't think of a name..." Kakarot scratched his head. He stood up, a bit frustrated. "Why don't we just name him after me? I hear people do that all the time!"

"No," Chi-Chi defended. "If anything he's going to be the exact opposite of you!"

Kakarot was discouraged. "Exact opposite? Why I don't want him going around to different families like nomads do. I had a few people to take me in...and then send me right out."

"We're still sorry about that," Soba butted in. "We just had our eyes fixed on something completely childish!" He looked at the boy. "I couldn't imagine having everyone at my feet with this little child alive now."

Chi-Chi gave Pilaf a heartwarming smile. "Thank you..."

Kakarot grabbed the boy out of Chi-Chi's hands. "I think I've finally found the proper name." Kakarot picked the boy up, who stared back at Kakarot with a blank stare.

"So..." Soba and the others waited patiently for Kakarot to finally hand his own son a proper name.

"Ox!" Kakarot answered. "How do you like that, huh?"

"Haahahahahaahahaha!" The baby's squeaky giggles practically brightened up the entire room.

"He likes it!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. Yet again, she was surprised by just how Kakarot would come up with such a thing. She recalled back then, some people would prefer to her father as the Ox King. Naming their son Ox was paying an exact tribute to her late father.

Kakarot smirked. "I knew he would." He raised the baby into the air and pulled him back. "Isn't that right, Ox?"

Ox giggled. Being half human half alien, the newborn looked a bit more developed than the average newborn. The boy was so excited that he let his body move freely and ended up kicking his father right in the face.

OUGH

Everyone else was silent. Kakarot just stared at Ox and Ox stared right back at him. The moment Kakarot cracked a snicker, everyone began to laugh...including his son.

"Aww..." Kakarot spoke through laughter. "If you were somebody elses kid you'd be thrown through a wall right now. Hahaha!"

So everyone enjoyed the happiness their child had to bring.

But anyone knows that in a world like this, these things don't last forever.

* * *

Eventually, four years stretch by and no sign of Piccolo yet. Things we knew them as was back to normal, with some changes here and there; such as the little newborn now walking on his own and training with his father. Peace was a great luxury to Kakarot and he got to experience 7 years of it with Chi-Chi, and four with his child.

Kakarot, being the intellectual he naturally is, managed to start his wine business and brought in a lot of money. Casually in the middle of the day, Kakarot went over to one of his many owned stores and checked on everyone working there. "Yo!"

"Kakarot, sir!" One of the workers at the store went up to the owner. "We need to speak with you!"

Kakarot loosened his red tie a bit, feeling uncomfortable in the stylish two-piece suit he wore. No matter how many times Kakarot put on the same material, it just simply did not feel right for him. He itched to just let his tail hang around, but he learned not to do that upon failing a business deal just for doing so in the past. Many customers watched as he walked inside. Hundreds of bill boards had his face plastered across multiple cities. Everyone knew who he was. Seeing one of the richest people on the planet out in broad daylight so casually wasn't something people were quite accustomed to. He caught a lot of stares in the process

Some females looked his way as he passed, just staring him down like a snack. Not only was he rich, but having the physical looks he did made many fall for him. "What is it?" Kakarot asked, setting down a brief case on the side of him.

"The manager wants to speak with you, sir." The man before Kakarot had a dark complexion with a mix of red and orange. His hair made way down to his cheeks, with bangs ending just above his eyebrows.

"Point him my way, Duvin." Kakarot visited the place occasionally and was rather used to Duvin, though he never once got to meet the manager of that one wine store.

Duvin nodded and made his way to the back. "I'll get Vino, sir."

Kakarot stood on the stool, looking around the place. He saw multiple versions of different wine all around the place, all of them being very rich in flavor, though their unique tastes only for those who liked them. There wasn't one product that one person did not like.

"So...you're the owner of this business, huh?" A random stranger asked Kakarot, just deciding to take a seat next to Mr. Rich Guy. It was a woman, who had on a green tank top that revealed her belly button and khaki shorts that only stopped a few dozen inches down her thighs. She was a blonde with narrow blue eyes that instilled a certain amount of fear into people that she met. Looking at Kakarot, she was smiling wide at him.

Kakarot turned around, making eye contact with the woman that was looking at him. "Yes...what does it matter to you?" Kakarot asked.

"I've seen you all around but didn't think you'd casually step out around normal folk. Rich people don't do that kind of thing, ya know?"

"I can do whatever I want," Kakarot scoffed as he smiled, also shaking his head.

"Of course," she sighed. "Being the wealthiest person behind the Brief family must have its perks. You can do whatever the hell you want. If you want money you get it done. Have a job needed to carry out, you have someone do it for you. There's nothing you can't do at your position of wealth."

"Indeed," Kakarot said.

"Rumor also has it that you're set to make some type of deal with the Briefs? Bring in more money?"

Before Kakarot could answer in came the manager. He was tall, a rather brownish person with red hair and jet black eyes. He was slender in figure but very toned. His squared facial expression stuck out among many others, which made him unique to some "About time. Vino." Kakarot stretched his hands out.

"Kakarot." Vino stretched his hand out, offering the owner a handshake. Kakarot, one, who learned to use proper business etiquette, met Vino with a firm handshake.

"Hello..." the blonde waved. "Forgetting someone?"

"Oh...hello Launch."

The blonde just flipped Vino off in response.

"You two must know each other," Kakarot remarked.

"This is the girl that always comes threatening to steal money from here. How many times are they going to let you get out of prison before they finally decide to simply put you in and throw away the key?"

"Kind of hard to do when all the people working for you are Martial Artists," Kakarot said with a chuckle.

Launch scoffed. "Fists can't beat bullets, you dolts!" She reached behind her and pulled out a grey Beretta with a silencer attached to it. With no hesitation whatsoever Lunch raised her gun to the above her head and sent bullets flying through the very roof of the place.

BANG BANG!

Everyone else except Vino and Kakarot ducked down upon impulse, fearing for their lives. Gasps of fear overcame the place from many. Some flipped tables over to hide as some decided to risk it and run directly out the doors. Launch smirked and got a hold of Kakarot's briefcase, snatching it out of his hands. She pointed the gun right at Kakarot's head, getting on with her armed robbery. "You...you're going to the back."

"I usually put a stop to this before she escalates it any further," Vino told Kakarot. The man just stood there, having a feeling that Kakarot would be capable of attending to the situation.

"Hm." Kakarot was having a rather boring day. This sudden turn of events humored him, so he figured he could do something quite enjoyable. "You think I know the codes?"

"You're the owner, you must know something!" Launch pressed the gun against Kakarot's head, furthering her threats to end his life. "Now get to it!"

Kakarot figured a normal person would usually just go along in fear. "O-Okay, mam." Kakarot had to refrain himself from chuckling. He looked over to Vino, who was just waiting for a signal. Kakarot merely furrowed his eyebrow, suggesting Vino it's best for him to stay out of it.

In the back room, Kakarot was facing Launch, who hadn't lowered her weapon, not even for a slight second. "I wonder if I'm the only person that's in a situation as sticky as this..." He chuckled internally.

"Shut your fucking trap and get to unlocking the safe," Launch threatened. "Heh! If you weren't so handsome, I would have shot your pretty face dead by now."

* * *

"St-STOP! Who are you!?" A short plump man had his shotgun pointed at some mysterious visitor. He had spent his morning like he spent many, tending to his Ostrich farm. He was just getting ready to finish up, but a falling ship managed to catch his attention. It landed a couple of miles away, so he decided to drive to it and see what the fuss was all about.

He wished he wouldn't have done that and just gotten to his home.

PIPIPIPIPIPI

The man that landed in the ship had the looks very similar to that of a human, though it was quite obvious he had nothing to do with earth, other than the fact that he was visiting. He wore a brown odd armor that covered his entire body, and shoulder plates. He didn't have anything but a red band over his leg, and black tight undergarments covering his private areas. Attached to his face was a green device, which was beeping quickly, making numerical observations. His long hair was the most unnatural of all, which was very unkempt and passed his behind.

"Your battle power is only 5, huh? Piece of Trash!" He started to walk closer to the man, intimidating his nervous bystander greatly. This was the first human he laid eyes on and was disappointed that he happened to be such a weakling. But what else could he have expected? The data he got was said this planet lacked in a number of things.

BANG

The nervous farmer, out of fear, pulled the trigger of his weapon. The bullet came speeding at this mysterious newcomer, who stood there with no fear. Raising his hand, he caught the bullet quickly and smirked.

"A...agh..." the farmer couldn't believe.

* * *

"What the hell?" Launch had just shot the gun at him and much to her surprise, he managed to catch the bullets, and with general ease. Never before had she witnessed such a thing before.

Kakarot had the bullet between his index finger and his thumb, making sure the blonde could see it well. He looked at it as the metal was between his index and thumb finger. Kakarot flicked the bullet back at Launch, who had her eyes closed. She expected to be over within just a split second. Much to her surprise, the bullet went flying right past her ear and onto the soft padding of the walls of the back room behind her. "Huh..."

"Now...you have five seconds to leave before I do some real harm next time."

Launch growled. No normal person was able of putting up a feat like that. She knew Kakarot was a champion of Martial Arts, as did every other normal city person, but didn't think he had superhuman strength. "You won't get away with this!" She kicked the door open and ran right out with her gun in hand, going off to fight another day. The woman had her weapon high up and within clear view, so anyone wouldn't think twice about standing in her way.

Kakarot shook his head, although getting some amusement from hearing gunshots go off in the back and a group of people yelling. He realized if it wasn't for his reputation he would have killed her by now. Seeing the same wide smile of him on the streets was an entire fiction. He was nowhere near as innocent as he made himself to seem.

* * *

The farmer who attempted to shoot at the alien that arrive didn't have so much luck. The bullet was sent right back at him at a far faster rate, which rendered him completely dead. The impact had him fly off his feet and have his back crashing into his truck

PIIPIIPII

"Hm..." he read over the device. "Could it be him?" He ascended slowly into the air. In an instant, he took off at great speeds.

Piccolo himself could sense this great power coming right for him. Just moments before he was meditating to himself, though he was kept on his toes the moment he felt its presence on earth. He was beginning to get weak at the knees just by sensing this great power. "W-Who could this possibly be...K-Kakarot...?" Upon catching sight of the man coming from him, Piccolo instantly knew it wasn't his enemy. He did feel that they were very similar, though.

The long-haired man landed just down on the ground ten yards away from Piccolo on the rocky lands. Piccolo remained cool with the man in his presence, making sure he showed no weakness. "Do you have business with me?"

"Tch...you're not Kakarot." The main objective in coming here was to find Kakarot. He knew his brother wasn't green, so he failed with this first person.

Bells rang in Piccolo's head at the mention of his enemy's name. "Kakarot...?

The man squinted at Piccolo. "Judging by your sudden reaction to the name...you must be familiar with him." He stepped a bit closer to the man. "Do you know where I can possibly find him?

"I may know a thing or two about him," Piccolo responded. "What does it matter to you?"

"Tell me. And I don't have time to play around. Where is Kakarot?"

Piccolo didn't give a rats ass about Kakarot, but he wondered just what motives this man could have with the man he was bent on killing himself. "Go into the cities and find out. He's pretty famous on this planet. One of the wealthiest people here."

"Wealthy?" He stroked his chin. 'Kakarot was in no manner sent here to be some wealthy celebrity of this world...' He looked back at Piccolo. "How do you know him?"

"Huh. If you want to kill him it's not going to happen. I'm going to be the one to take him down myself."

The alien smirked. "Good to know he at least does have some enemies." He clicked the button ingrained onto the device he wore over his left eye.

PIIIPIIPIII

"320...I see why you're such a cocky one. Kakarot must be stronger than you I presume."

"Not by much."

The newcomer shook his head. "You're a waste of my time and no help. If I see you again, I just may take liberty in killing you."

PIIIPIIIPIII

"Hm...I believe I've just found him." He took off into the sky. "Thanks for the co-operation." He was flying through the sky. "Kakarot...what the hell have you been doing all these years?"

Piccolo watched the man, shaking at the knees. "S-Such power..." The more this stranger managed to create distance, the less pressure Piccolo felt being on him. This guy was that strong. He fell to his knees, overcome by such strength. He wondered just what in the hell was he.

* * *

"So you're telling me I should trust you?" Bulma folded her arms.

In Capsule Corp, Bulma was seated across from Kakarot, behind her own desk. Here the two people were going over some business. Kakarot's main goal was to try and get Capsule Corp to come and team up with him, something that would definitely benefit him greatly in the future.

Kakarot sighed. "Listen...what's in the past is in the past." Kakarot opened his briefcase. "Look at the papers here." He set them all on the table in Bulma's office. "This will show the benefit working together will have on both of our own companies. I'm not forcing you to look into it now, but just read over it."

Bulma sipped some of her coffee next to a stack of papers at her desk. "I'll take it to my father. I'm still quite biased in not giving you anything...! But he'll come at this with the right mind." The woman knew that her choices with anything that had to do with Kakarot would be blocked by her thoughts of him, having not forgotten what he had done in the past.

Kakarot nodded. He closed his briefcase and locked it. "We only have 96 hours to get everything straight and settled between us. I urge you to look at everything carefully."

Bulma nodded. "Next time bring someone else over. I'm tired of seeing your face enough as of now." She waved him off. "You can leave now."

ZING!

'What the hell is that...?' Kakarot jumped out of his chair, feeling a great sense of energy from afar, closing in on him. He made the immediate assumption that it could have been Piccolo, but he could tell that it wasn't. This energy was much more sinister than Piccolo's could ever be.

Bulma looked slightly over the papers, trying to get back to work. Feeling Kakarot's presence still in her office she glanced at him. "You can leave now." She made sure to speak a bit louder, her tone of voice getting deeper.

"It's probably bested you leave instead," Kakarot responded.

"Excuse me?" Bulma stood up. "If you don't recognize this is my family business and you're in my office! I can do whatever the hell I please! Last time I checked, I am the one who lives here!"

"Get the hell out of here right now!" Kakarot snapped. Rarely would Kakarot lose his cool, that only being in rare situations of course for rare reasons. The power he was sensing at the moment just managed to put him on edge that much. Regardless of how much of a bitch Bulma was being towards him, he didn't want any others getting harmed.

Bulma noticed the ferocious tone coming from Kakarot. "W-What the?" Flashbacks from the ape went through her head. "Y-Yeah, sure!" Bulma scurried out of the room.

"Hello..."

Bulma bumped into a tall looking man in her office. She was forced back down, falling over on her behind. "Ah..." She looked up at the tall figure before her.

Kakarot turned around. Bulma was huffing and puffing loudly. She crawled under her desk.

"Kakarot...I've finally found you."

Kakarot stared through the glass window. He could see his own reflection, but that wasn't the face he was fixated on. 'It can't be...' Kakarot closed his eyes. "Urgh..." He rubbed his head. With his eyes sealed shut, he got little flashbacks of the man's face. But it was as if he was younger. 'I know him...' He knew something about this man was familiar, someone who was close, but that was far in the past and he couldn't have the memories resurface.

Kakarot turned around, finally facing him. He had a look of confusion, lots of questions running through that brain of his.

The man grinned, having finally managed to find whom he came looking for. "Hello...little brother."


	13. Splitting From Old to New

Kakarot stared at this newcomer. He looked extremely familiar and the armor he had on only made Kakarot much more suspicious, though he just couldn't pinpoint it. How did he know him? Nothing was said by Kakarot himself as he was nearly speechless. "You..." He looked at Raditz's face. Instantly he got a flash of the face of a little boy, yet with the same rowdy hair as Raditz had. He knew him, but at the same time, he didn't know him.

"You've grown up, Kakarot!" He gave him a cheeky grin. "But I could have noticed who you were from a mile away. You look just like our father."

"Our father?" Bulma looked over to Kakarot, then at the man. "Oh...my...god!" She spotted a tail wrapped around his waist. "Is that what I think it is?" Bulma pointed at it. These horrible memories of apes rampaging around haunted her still, usually including the death of her friend Son Gohan. Not only that, but she observed the similar physical features that he and Kakarot had, and it showed in the face especially.

The man to claim himself as Kakarot's brother glanced at her. Realizing what she was pointing at, he looked back at his tail. "Indeed." He looked over to Kakarot's tail as well and crossed his arms. "Tell me, Kakarot...what have you been doing all these years? Your duty has been to exterminate all life on this world. Why have you not carried your mission out conscientiously? Are you playing some type of game?"

Bulma stood up, a bit scared, but extremely aggravated. She already had to deal with one of them, but two was more than enough. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing here! But you and Kakarot can carry your stupid little feud elsewhere!" The woman neared him, scowling in his face.

"Bulma..." Kakarot warned. "Get back!" He motioned his eyes to the side, nonverbally telling her that she should get behind the desk safely.

"I'm trying to carry out a family business and you think it'd be nice just to barge in to ruin a deal?" Bulma pointed at the door. "Get the hell out of here!"

The man remained cool, looking somewhat amused by the audacity of yet another weak earthling. "Get the hell out of my face."

Bulma's instant involuntary reaction was driving her head right into the wall beside her just the moment subsequent to being backhanded by the man. A little blood stain was left on the wall as she lied on her side, trying to catch her breath. She was still able to breathe, but it was apparent that she was going to be on the ground for a while, trying to get herself together.

"Idiot..." Kakarot mumbled under his breath.

"Now don't make me repeat myself," Raditz said, referring to his baby brother. "Answer my question, Kakarot."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kakarot asked. "I was never sent here to exterminate life on this world!"

"Excuse me?" He cocked an eyebrow. He knew that there was only one reason why young Saiyans such as his brother was sent to weaker worlds. And that was with one goal: to destroy that planet. He recalled his mother telling him that she was going to send Kakarot off over 2 decades ago, albeit she never specified. And he didn't see a reason for it either as he already knew why Kakarot would be sent off like any other juvenile Saiyan. With all of that in mind, he shook his head. "No, no, no you fool. You were particularly sent here to destroy them. Any Saiyan child would know this. If you used the moon you would have taken them all out in the span of a few years."

"No," Kakarot shook his head. "You're wrong...Raditz." The Saiyan had to think of this man's name. He recalled hearing it multiple times back then when he was placed in an incubator as a toddler. That must have been him, for sure. While it was just a wild guess, he was right.

Raditz looked onto Kakarot, quite curious to his little brother's thought process he decided he was going to hear Kakarot out. "Then explain yourself. What other reason would a Saiyan child be shipped off to a world full of weaklings?"

"I remember what happened the day I arrived here..." Kakarot looked up at the left corner of his eye. He visually recollected what took place. "It was one night...the only night I remember seeing home. I was resting peacefully somewhere. Then all of a sudden mother and father took me out and placed me in a pod. I didn't know what was going on. I was honestly scared." Raditz listened carefully. "They told me to stay safe and not try to look at the moon too often. They warned me of some patrol...and then I landed here." Kakarot looked back to his brother. "I don't think I was sent here to destroy this world."

"Then what could it be?" Raditz asked. If it wasn't to rid the earth of its inhabitants, then what could it possibly be? He started to think a bit more, trying to think of something. "This is odd..." Raditz's eyes slowly rolled over to Kakarot. 'Could it be that mother and father knew of Planet Vegeta's destruction before it happened? No...they couldn't have predicted such a thing! But I find it incredibly odd they'd send Kakarot of to a world where he'd be safe...'

"I don't know...I never felt my duty was to wreak havoc here, even though I could without much of a problem."

"Well none of that matters now, Kakarot. More important things are happening. A long time ago the majority of our people were wiped out by a meteor that crashed into our homeworld. There are only four survivors left, including yourself. But thankfully I remembered you, little brother. Your battle power isn't complete, but if you were to join with the rest of us you'd be able to handle us on a recent planet we are headed to. The natives there are very potent creatures, but we should be fine with you as well."

"Strong creatures on a different world, huh?" Kakarot asked.

Raditz slowly nodded, a grin on his face. "Doesn't it sound exciting, Kakarot? Picture the carnage we'd make there."

"As much as I'd love to...I can't..." Kakarot took a deep breath. He was somewhat anxious as he rejected the offer His brother was a far stronger than him...he didn't know if he'd try to convince him with words or by force. If the latter were to transpire, then he'd have no chance.

"And why not...?" Raditz asked. Raditz did his best to remain stoic, trying to be patient with Kakarot.

"I have a family here," Kakarot answered. "I can't just leave them here by themselves. I have a rival out there itching to kill me. He won't hesitate to kill them while I am gone for sure."

Raditz chuckled, not able to believe his brother would actually copulate with one of the earthlings here. "A family, huh Kakarot? So that would make me an uncle."

Kakarot nodded. "He's four years old. I don't think now would be the best time for me to just up and leave."

"Then bring him along!" Raditz exclaimed, getting an idea. "It'll be enjoyable for him, I'm sure. He must like to fight. You know, the more the merrier." Raditz had to hold in his excitement. He came here merely expecting his brother to fight alongside him in a conquest, though to have the assistance of his son would help a lot more, and make things all the more interesting.

"He trains with me sometimes...but he only likes it because that's how we spend time together. I don't believe the kid is fit for fighting entirely."

Raditz walked over to Kakarot, placing his hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "Then we can all have fun together, Kakarot. You, my little brother...with your son, my nephew. It'd be quite the family reunion. Don't you want to go, Kakarot? Your blood is boiling at the thought isn't it?"

It's been a while since Kakarot has had a challenge, four years to be exact. Over time, he made sure to keep up with his own training so he could remain strong and not get complacent. Not to mention, keeping up this popular image amongst the people did begin to bore him a little bit. "No. He's not ready for that type of thing yet. Let me at least tell my son I will be gone on a business trip for a while." Kakarot realized his son was strong in his own way, so maybe perhaps he'd be able to fight off Piccolo if push came to shove. He wasn't all too sure though because his son had never truly been tested like he was for his first time when he got into his first real fight against Old Man Gohan and others like Tien.

"You intend on coming back?" Raditz asked.

"Sometime after what we have to do, yes," Kakarot responded. "But I am leaving with you."

"Very well, Kakarot. We were already going to come back as soon as we finished there. You have one hour to carry on through with your business. I will be expecting you within that time frame."

"Done." Kakarot walked out the door. "I'll see you within the hour." Kakarot quickly left the building, leaving Raditz to himself.

PIPI PIPI

Raditz turned around, having scanned multiple powers coming towards him from behind. A couple of guards all had their weapons drawn, with strict expressions. He grinned upon noticing that there had to be security guards. "I can still have some fun here before I take a break." He exited out the door, tending to those that decided to challenge him.

* * *

Bulma remained on the cold floor, practically knocked out. The purple headed woman felt extremely light headed and nauseated. Still, she managed to hear those terrifying screams of those standing up to Kakarot's brother as he exited Capsule Corporation.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Chi-Chi asked Kakarot. "How long will your business trip be?" Chi-Chi felt kind of suspicious. Kakarot had taken many business trips and they all normally lasted for a week.

"A few months," Kakarot responded. "I'll be back before you know it."

Chi-Chi was thinking something had to be going on, though she knew better than to question her husband. She remained quiet as their son, Ox spoke up.

The little boy was wearing green and black Chinese kid's robe with soft black pants made of cotton. Over the past couple of years, his had grown long, right to his back with a few strands of hair meeting his forehead. From the moment Kakarot laid eyes on his son, he truly realized how closely related he had to be with Raditz, considering he had very much similar hair.

"Daddy?" Ox appeared in the living room area of the house. Every time he heard his father come home, he usually came dashing into the room, usually wanting a sparring session with his father.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Ox...you're too old to be calling me that." He rubbed his son's head, ruffling it up.

"He's still four," Chi-Chi said, rolling her eyes. She didn't get why Kakarot was as hard as he was sometimes, especially on their own child, who just learned to walk not just a couple of years ago.

"So?" Kakarot asked. He looked back to his son, who was tugging at his pant leg. "What is it, Ox?"

"Why do you have to be gone for so long?" Ox asked, having overheard the conversation between his dad and Chi-Chi. "Who am I going to spar with?"

"Spar with your mother," Kakarot responded. "She's actually not a bad partner." He winked at her. His wife moved his head to the side, hiding her reddened cheeks. She hated when Kakarot used his charismatic ways with her, especially when she had to play the role of an agitated wife and be a bit upset with him. She walked over to Kakarot with her arms opened wide.

"Kakarot..." Chi-Chi hugged him tightly. "Be careful, please." She moved her head up a bit and whispered into his ear. "Watch out for those vixens, too." Kakarot just chuckled.

He didn't quite reciprocate entirely and just patted Chi-Chi on the back a couple of times. "I will. Do me a favor and call Vino. Tell him that he's in charge of things for now as I'm gone."

Chi-Chi nodded. "I will." She handed Kakarot a capsule. "Here is the thing you told me to get from Pilaf an hour ago."

Kakarot turned around and just walked out the door after taking the capsule. Ox himself didn't get to hug his father before he left and ran out the door. "Daddy!" He called out, waving his hands back and forth. Ox looked into the air. His father was too far gone for him to be able to do anything. Ox just looked into the clouds.

Chi-Chi walked behind Gohan, placing her hands on the boy's shoulders. "He'll be back before you know it, Ox. Just wait." She crouched down and kissed him on the cheek.

Ox didn't say anything and just hoped so. He'd be there awaiting his father's arrival, no matter how long it would take him to come back.

* * *

Far away Raditz was hanging out in his space pod. Raditz had his back placed against the glass of his ship in the giant crater his intergalactic vehicle made once it landed. He listened through his scouter as he munched down on a piece of fruit. "So, after we subjugate that planet we will come back here and rid everyone out within a blink of an eye. We should have things done here within a month's time." Through the green device covering his left eye emitted voices, one that was speaking directly to him.

"And what about Kakarot's brat?" the long-haired Saiyan asked with his mouth full. He was hoping that they would let the half-breed go along with them, though the last word was never his. It was up to the boss man, his superior, the person he communicated through the scouter

"If the boy can prove of some usefulness then he can come as well. If not he can perish with the rest of the inhabitants of this world," one of the voices responded over the device. "Same for your brother, Kakarot."

"Oh, trust me Kakarot should do just fine," Raditz responded. "He won't let you down, I'm sure."

"What is his battle power, anyway?" the other Saiyan asked. "Is he at least at one thousand?"

"Tch...his battle power is nowhere near complete," Raditz answered. "Kakarot's power-level barely exceeds that of 300."

"hahahahaa," both of them laughed through the scouter. "Kakarot's going to have a hell of a time."

"Indeed, Nappa." Raditz glanced into the sky, seeing a figure making way. "He's just on time. Will the both of you be over by Freeza Planet #33?"

"We're headed right over to our next victim," responded the stronger Saiyan. "It will take us approximately 19 days to get there."

"It'll take us two weeks to get to Freeza Planet #33 and five days to get to our assigned world. So we'll all be there around the same time."

"Okay, then let's not waste time," the man responded. "Do what you must on Freeza Planet #33 and get on the way here."

"Done." Raditz cut the reception. After finishing his conversation, his eyes motioned upward to Kakarot, who was simply hovering in the sky. "Hello, Kakarot."

"I'm ready to go," Kakarot said as he descended onto the Greenlands. Whatever was to take place, Kakarot was somewhat excited. Not only was he about to fight, though he was going to go outer space, encountering a different world.

Raditz took a peek behind Kakarot, checking for transportation. "I don't see a ride of any sort." Raditz folded his arms. "Do you recall where your pod is?"

Kakarot pulled out a capsule, showing it. He clicked the button and threw it right behind him. Raditz looked passed Kakarot and watched as that tiny capsule just poofed into a round pod exactly equal to the one that Raditz used to arrive on earth. "Brand new. And with some updates in here as well."

"Updates?" Raditz asked.

"We enhanced the pod a bit," Kakarot answered. "One day I planned on using this thing for myself, so I got help from a few friends to tweak it a bit. Almost never runs out of fuel and the armor is ten times better than it was before."

"While that's fascinating and all we don't have time for that. Do you still have your armor in there?" Raditz asked.

"Yes," Kakarot answered. He recalled wearing that green and black armor a lot when he was a youngster. He stopped using it and put it in his pod when he stopped training with Tsuru. "Inside, the temperature of the pod can be altered."

"And what's the round button at the top?" Raditz questioned, pointing it out.

"At the click of a button out comes a treat. Here we call those treats muffins."

Raditz shook his head. "Look, when you get inside just press enter. It'll bring you to where we are headed. I doubt you have a scouter so we need to pick one up for you." Raditz entered his pod, not wasting time. "Let's go."

Kakarot entered his as well and pressed the start button. The entrance to the pods opened. Once they elevated ten feet into the air, their pods took off like rockets.

Piccolo watched from afar, arms folded. He was slightly angry at himself for not attacking Kakarot there and catching him by surprise. But Piccolo, being one to use his head before acting, weighed the risks and the benefits of this. Sure he can kill Kakarot secretly, but he'll die by the other man far stronger than him. Or he could wait until they come back, stronger than ever, able to take them both on. "I'll get you...someday."

As the two brothers were traveling through space Raditz now had time to think things through to himself. 'Kakarot must not have been lying...he couldn't have. He remembers me and our parents. They sent him off...but not to exterminate worlds? Then what...what could be their reasoning?' Trying to answer all these questions was far too difficult to answer. So many connections to put together, though he didn't have any lines to start with. Raditz rubbed his temple, getting angry. "Urgh..." He shook his head. 'What the hell...' Raditz just decided to disregard it and went to sleep.

On the other side of things, Kakarot was worried about Piccolo. He didn't know if the moment he left that he'd try something again. Every time he went on a business trip, he was concerned about it. But after having learned to sense energy, he kept track of Piccolo. Although for this occasion, he'd be off the planets, unable to sense Piccolo's energy. 'He could be doing anything right now...' Kakarot sighed and closed his eyes. He pictured the twins that intervened in the fight while he was basically out for the count four years ago. 'But they two...they're keeping tabs on him. They'll make sure he doesn't try to pull any moves...I hope.'

* * *

During the weeks of Kakarot's leave, both Ox and Chi-Chi have been trying to spar, at least a little. The two were just right before their castle, across from one another. Chi-Chi was attacking her son, though Ox remained on the defensive, not fighting back "Come on. Can you fight back for a second?"

Ox continued to simply defend himself, wanting to prevent himself from inflicted even the slightest bit of harm to his mother. Even still he had to stay on his toes around her as she was fighting with agility and thanks to Ox holding back. "I don't want to hurt you," Ox responded, continuously dodging the oncoming kicks and punches. After blocking a few more attacks, the young boys hopped into the air. "I'm not going to hurt you." He remained in the sky, hovering.

Chi-Chi growled under her breath, seeing that her son was doing things she specifically recalled Kakarot not telling him to do when it came to fighting, which was teaching him too much. All she wanted was for her son to be able to defend himself. He preferred her son to study, though Kakarot wouldn't put up with him with not fighting. "I said Kakarot could spar with you...not teach you how to do everything!" She pounced into the air, going after her son. "What else did your father teach you?" Chi-Chi gave Ox multiple straight jabs towards her son's face.

Ox just continued to dodge side to side. "Mom!...stop."

"What else? Huh! Tell me!" Chi-Chi continued to strike her son.

Ox huffed, still blocking and dodging her strikes. "Enough, mom." He grabbed Chi-Chi by her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm not sparring with you. It's not the same as it is with daddy." The four-year-old spoke rather seriously.

Chi-Chi pulled her arm back, stopping still. She could read her little boy's facial expression, not to mention the tone of his voice, and realize that he was not playing around. Deciding not to upset him Chi-Chi went ahead to stop attacking him in a wild manner. Upon Ox letting her hand go Chi-Chi slowly descended her way back down to the ground. "Tell me something...I need to know." Chi-Chi was facing the green grass beneath her. "What exactly has your father been teaching you?"

Ox just looked at her from head-on. "Daddy didn't want me to tell you, but he's not here. But since I started walking daddy would take me back out to train with him. He taught me everything he knows." Ox then smiled. "Daddy also says I'm catching up to him!" He placed his arms behind his back. "I just need to know when to hold back my power. Daddy also told me him having a training partner helps him progress a lot, too."

"A-Are you joking?" Chi-Chi blinked several times in just one second. "You...just as strong as your father?"

"Yeah..." Ox then looked down at the ground, frowning. "But we haven't been training as much recently...daddy says business has been going on a lot lately." He kicked the grass. "And I'm just studying."

Chi-Chi walked over to Ox. "Wow..." She picked him up. "I can't believe my little four-year-old boy...going hand to hand with the most powerful man...his father!" She threw Ox into the air, eliciting a couple of giggles from here. A sense of pride was running through his body at this one comment. "I thought hanging out with your father would make you just seem like a killing machine. I mean, your father's smart, but he rather uses his talent for fighting, which usually hinders his real intelligence at face value."

Ox smiled. "I can be both!" The thought of being his own person and having the very trait of fighting his dad loved the most made Ox a bit excited.

Chi-Chi just nodded. There was no way she could convince her son otherwise and decided to let Ox choose. Other than that she surely didn't want to hear Kakarot nagging on about Ox being rusty when he got back. "Now let's go eat..." Chi-Chi headed inside the house.

* * *

In the travel pods, Kakarot happened to just wake up. He rubbed his head, yawning. "Ughm." His other hand somehow found itself to his stomach. "I'm hungry..." Kakarot looked through the glass window of the circular pod. Watching himself pass various planets for the first time years brought back a compelling feeling of pure nostalgia. The feeling didn't go away until the pod landed into an unfamiliar world.

The pod opened itself up once it landed on the soft padding of the landing sites. Once the doors of the pod had opened, before him he spotted a pair of guards. Just looking at them made it apparent he was on a different planet. One of them was yellow and the other was orange, holding weapons with different styled armor. 'Their energies are weaker than mines.'

"Oh...about time!" Raditz came over to Kakarot, holding something in his hand and something else in the other. "You wake up as soon as we're to take flight to our destination, I see."

"What?" Kakarot asked.

"You weren't lying when you said they tampered with the pod." Raditz chuckled. "You were out like a light. Must have enhanced the sleeping system as well, little brother." Raditz handed Kakarot a red scouter. "Here. The newest model. Helps you read power levels."

"Read power levels?" He looked back to Raditz. "You're saying this can read how strong people are."

"Yes." Raditz stretched his arm out further. "Now take the damn thing."

"But I can already search battle powers without any help of some puny device."

"How is that even remotely possible?" Raditz asked.

"I know that you still have a bit more power waiting to be released," Kakarot answered. "Just waiting for the next fight to demonstrate it, I assume. You know not how to hold back just a bit of your hidden power, which you more than likely hadn't let loose in a fight yet. If you were to learn from me, I'll help you out with that...big brother."

Raditz just threw the scouter on his brother's lap, acting unimpressed by his brother's knowledge. "Here." He handed Kakarot a piece of fruit right after. "This will hold you off for five more days."

"Five days?" Kakarot asked. "I don't think I can wait three more."

"Muffin button," Raditz pointed out.

"Ohhhh!" Kakarot looked back up. "You're right."

"As a matter of fact..." Raditz jacked the fruit from Kakarot's lap, taking a bite. "I'll be needing this more than you." The long-haired Saiyan entered his pod. "I already set the coordinates for you to head off to Planet Anded." Raditz's pod closed once he entered it.

Kakarot looked down at his attire, letting loose his red tie. "I'll have to take off this stupid suit as well." He reached for his itchy throat and scratched at it. Kakarot looked up and pressed the button at the top. A hole opened and a muffin came out steaming hot with blueberries placed into it. Kakarot grinned as it fell directly on his lap. "Perfect." He licked his lips, his hunger beginning to overtake him.

Back on Planet Earth Piccolo looked over all the cities, watching as countless cars passed on the roads, with many different people on the sidewalk. "Everything is here for me..." Piccolo continued to look down at the people, carrying on with their day like normal. "Kakarot is gone and his son is far too weak to take me on." Piccolo was contemplating on whether he should destroy the entire city below him. "But then again..." Piccolo glanced at all over the billboards and screens that showed Kakarot. The man had this same mischievous smirk on his face. Piccolo never liked that look. "I can't..." Piccolo flared his nostrils. "Taking everything back for myself would be far too easy without the presence of Kakarot. And then yet I want him to see me strip everything he ever had from him." Piccolo looked into the air. "And he's not here to see that. Wherever you are...I will be waiting. And when you come back...I will be ready."

"MUAHHHH!" Kakarot patted his mouth. His stomach was slightly bloated as he spent the first two days of traveling eating muffins non stop. The Saiyan looked around him after he heard the sound barrier within his area break. The skies of the planet were blood red with clouds the colors of a dark green. "What the hell..."

CABOOSH!

Kakarot and Raditz's pods crashed just into the middle of nowhere, far from any of the main areas of the planet. Raditz quickly got out, seeing the crater before him subsequent to landing. He ascended and landed down on the grass beneath him, which was of the same exact color as the planet's skies. The grass was all flat and soft looking, fitting in with the terrain nicely. Around them were tall orange rocky pillars, all of which were shaped differently. "Interesting..." He observed his surroundings.

Kakarot was looking onto the grass below his feet. "It's black...their grass is black." Kakarot walked over to Raditz, much more slower than normal. "Hey...explain something to me...why do I feel slightly heavier here?"

"Oh..." Raditz chuckled. "You will be experiencing this more often. This planet's gravity is weak...but compared to the mudball you've been on for so long, this is nothing you've ever tasted before."

"How..." Kakarot was sweating a little, the humidity getting to him. Everything different about this planet wasn't something he was truly used to.

"This planet is point three times the gravity of Planet Vegeta...our homeworld. But for you, this is three times earth's gravity." Raditz shook his head. "It's a shame you were on such a weakling planet for so many years, Kakarot. Had you been with us for a while, you'd already be used to these things."

"Are we having a hard time with the new recruit?"

Kakarot and Raditz both looked above, spotting two new people. One of the men was big, bald and burly with some facial hair and the exact same styled armor that Raditz wore. The other was shorter and leaner but seemed more malevolent just merely by looking at him. Unlike Nappa and Raditz, he had on blue clothing under his armor, from his chest to his pants. His jet black hair was one of a flame style, defying gravity in all aspects.

"He's not used to the gravity here," Raditz answered the shorter Saiyan.

"Hehehe," Nappa chuckled. "I feel as light as a feather." He looked over at his partner. "And I don't even wanna guess how it feels for Vegeta."

"You should have gotten dressed before coming here," Vegeta said, looking over at Kakarot's apparel. "Whatever that junk is it's not fit for battle."

Kakarot looked at his business suit attire, which he was yet to take off. It slipped his mind many times, but at the very least, he would manage to slip himself into something comfortable. "Hm. Don't have to tell me twice." He turned around and ripped off his shirt, tossing it off to the side. Kakarot went by his pod and proceeded to retrieve the armor that he had in there.

As Kakarot walked away Nappa got a quick glance at Kakarot's power with the use of his scouter. "A power-level of 333." Nappa looked over to Raditz. "Are you sure he can help us?" It was far irregular for a Saiyan at this age to be this weak, unless they were of the true low caliber Saiyans.

Raditz shrugged, quite uncertain himself. "I don't even know anymore. We shall see, though."

Vegeta just looked on. 'I did hear what he told Raditz over the scouters...perhaps he could be holding back a bit.' Vegeta just thought to himself. If Kakarot knew of such things, then it would be likely that he was capable of doing the same. 'There's no telling...but we shall see.'

Kakarot came out, in an entirely different apparel. "So..." Kakarot was smirking from ear to ear. "How do I look?" The same armor he loved to wear as a kid was what he had now. Regardless of how tall or big he was to get, it would always remain the perfect fit for him.


	14. North and South Purge

The four Saiyans all hovered in the blood red sky. Each of them all looked around, spotting one giant cave in the middle of practically nowhere surrounded by rocky pillars. None could tell if it was day or night with the lack of sun and moon.

PIPI PIPI

"They're all here," Raditz informed, having scanned life via his green scouter. "Although for some reason none of them bother to exit their homes." Here near no life presence seemed to be present.

"I see..." Vegeta stretched out his hand. "Let's give them a good morning call." A bright blue ball began to flicker like a light in Vegeta's palm. "Huha!"

Kakarot watched as the small bright ball flashed by fairly quickly that he couldn't even keep his eyes on the attack as it made its way down towards its destination.

BOOM!

A loud explosion followed. Nothing but smoke could be seen below just moments after having detonated. Kakarot eyed the three other Saiyans, whom all were grinning as they caused a rather destructive disruption. "That should give them all the warning they need," Vegeta said. He looked over at Raditz and said Saiyan's brother. "We're going to go up north and take out the entire section surrounded there. You two go down south and dispatch of the fools there. We'll meet back here in the equator in about three hours for a checkup."

Raditz nodded. "Done."

Vegeta didn't add anything at all and carried on with their mission. He and Nappa started to take off, leaving the area up north.

Raditz got ready for his mission as well and noticed that his brother was still looking over the impact Vegeta had caused."Are you coming or what?"

"Yes." Kakarot broke out of his trance and caught up with his older brother, heading south of the planet.

Raditz had a smug look on his face. "Now it's been said that the people here are quite potent. So it's best that you and I both stay on our toes. Especially considering how strong you are, Kakarot...you need to be very careful."

"I suppose so," Kakarot said. "I wouldn't want to die here."

"When we meet up in three hours that's when it's time to get real. We can have fun for a little bit, but after that, it's time to do away with this entire population. This planet has been in the pool for months and it's about time someone has come to carry it out."

Kakarot's eyes moved to the side a little, having spotted some little figures moving about. "I believe I've found some victims..." Kakarot took a slight turn to his right, now leading Raditz to the first area. The moment the two stopped, just hovering over the homes below, they looked down. All of the houses were made of little rocky huts with doors made of the same exact material. The main thing they had their eyes on, however, was the giant cave left unattended to.

"Well, brother. I'd say it's about time we do away with these fools." Raditz reached his hand out to his side. "You are more than welcome to be the first to start it off."

"Hm." Kakarot held his hand upside down, right near his face. Focusing a bit of energy, a purple ball of ki began to form in his hands. "Let's see how they like this." Kakarot cocked his hand back and flicked the ball down quickly

The two watched the fire develop below subsequent to a minor explosion. The giant cave that people resided in had blown up. There was a medium-sized cloud of smoke during the aftermath. Once the area cleared out, half of the cave could be visible. "Hm. That was horrible work, little brother." Raditz chuckled. "But no matter. That was more than I originally expected anyhow." Raditz charged ki in his hand, which was raised into the sky. "Let me show you how it's done!" Raditz had the look of a madman, preparing to finish what Kakarot had started. "Here!" Raditz began to send the attack down.

"No, you don't!" A man of rather pale skin color popped out of nowhere and rammed his shoulder into Raditz's arm. Raditz wasn't expecting this and had been forced to move to the side from the unexpected impact. The attack he readied to cause destruction with was re-directed slightly to the side. The blast landed just before the cave, a grand amount of smoke ensuing.

"What the hell?" Raditz looked to where he was struck from. Seeing that it was one of the inhabitants, his built up frustration went towards him. "How dare you..."

The pale looking man had his eyes glued to Raditz and held his hand behind his back, holding up a signal of two.

"Got it..." One of the people below saw the signal and took this as a sign to flee. A female below ran off the scene, noticing that one of them was distracted. She wasn't to be spotted as the cloud of smoke had her blended in within the area below. Not to mention the black grass didn't help much for loacting her either.

"You think you're quite the valiant one, coming here and saving some of those that are bound to die anyway." Raditz smiled in the man's face. "We're going to have fun with you."

Kakarot was sort of focused on the interaction with Raditz and this random person. Out the corner of his eye, he spotted someone within the smoke running. Kakarot, seeing one of the first people he'd be able to attack, smiled. He pointed his index finger right at the woman who continued to flee. Slowly he had ki being charged in his finger, ready to take her out by using some target practice.

"Kakarot!" Raditz called out, interrupting his brother's concentration.

Kakarot immediately put forth his attention towards Raditz, the ki he had been charging immediately fading away. "Yo."

The female running for her life looked back at the others, hoping none would be on her tail. A small smile of victory came over her upon realizing that she had managed to escape. That was all she needed. "There's no way they're going to win." The female hopped into the air and shot off, a trail of purple energy being left behind.

PIPIPIPIPI

"A simple power-level of 400," Raditz said. "While this fool may give you quite the challenge, I can say that you're able to take him."

"I'm not here to play games," the man said. "I am here to slay you. None of you are going to destroy us. We've already taken out the first wave of your crew. Coming here with reinforcements is pointless."

"Of course," Raditz responded. "A few dozen weaklings were sent here to dispatch of your planet. They truly underestimated you all. That one elite member did wreak a bit of havoc before mysteriously being killed, however. I hear that a few ten thousand here has now been reduced to only a couple thousand."

"Maybe so. But I, Motael, will be the ones to finish you all for good!" The man had a look of vengeance, hell-bent on rendering pay-back.

"Here's your chance, Kakarot!" Raditz warned.

Motael looked over to his side, where Kakarot originally was. "Huh?" The man, having a lack of skill when it came to sensing energy, was totally lost. "Where'd he go?"

Kakarot reappeared just behind Motael. "Here." Kakarot rammed two of his fists that were clapped together against the man's neck.

Motael was caught by surprise and sent flying down. As he didn't continue to plummet at rapid speeds he eventually managed to regain control of himself and flip himself over before he hit his head first on the ground. He bounced on his feet, quickly jerking his head up in the sky in search for Kakarot. "Let's go, then..." Motael looked up, his eyes on a dozen ki attacks coming his way. Motael hopped into the air, flying towards his opponent.

Kakarot merely watched as Motael tried to fight his way through. Motael, being quite versatile, dodged one of the ki attacks-barely. Acting on impulse Motael spun around, letting one of the other blasts simply graze his face. He smacked away two more back to back, which stung his hand quite a bit. "Have some of this." Motael formed a small wave of ki and shot it right back at Kakarot.

All of Kakarot's ki attacks were each evaporated immediately upon being touched by Motael's wave of red ki. Kakarot moved off to the side, just barely evading the attack targeted for himself. He looked back as it continued into the air, seeing it disappear. Upon turning around, Kakarot received a hard lick to the face.

While Kakarot managed to stand his ground while in the air, he was rendered a two piece back to back before having a foot sent directly to his chest plate. Kakarot did feel those hits greatly, but being endurable as he is he managed to get a hold of Motael's foot. Kakarot raised his elbow and got ready in an attempt to break the man's leg.

Motael used his other foot and kicked Kakarot across the face with the tip of his heel. Motael spun around in mid-air, Kakarot still floating. Using his hands Motael blasted Kakarot dead on, sending the Saiyan further back.

Raditz observed the fight. "Quite impressive...Kakarot is handling himself well for someone who's power-level is only at 333 compared to that of 400." Raditz folded his arms and continued to observe the fight. He mostly set his brother up so he could see how he performed in battle. By the looks of it, Kakarot surely did retain the fighting instincts any average Saiyan would have over the years.

* * *

Elsewhere the female that ran away from almost certain death made it just before a temple. She, like Motael, had a palish like skin tone, as well as any other inhabitant of their world. Her eyes were bright purple and she was short with long black hair that passed her somewhat broad shoulders. She was wearing a tunic, which only stopped right past her knees, letting her thick legs and thighs show. A guard was standing right before her, blocking the entrance door that was right behind him.

"What is it, Dedana?" he asked, already being very familiar with her. Everyone knew everyone with the world they lived in.

Dedana was almost out of breath, going as fast as she could. "They're back here Valmo," she responded. "They're attacking our people with stronger forces."

"How many are there?" Valmo asked.

"I don't know," Dedana responded. "But it would be a good idea if you bothered to check it out right now. It's just a bit up north. The middle of the southern section."

Valmo nodded. Immediately he knew he had to do something, not wanting to lose any more lives. "If the king asks why I'm off duty, then he'll know." The tall, yet also pale man took off into the air.

Dedana didn't waste any time and opened the entrance to the temple. The moment she entered, she spotted her king, alongside two other guards. "King Lycan!" Dedana yelled.

The place was nowhere indeed as lavish and fashionable anyone would think that the residence of the king would normally be. Everything was either made up of wood and rock, though the people there were extremely comfortable with it.

Lycan sat atop a coffin. His men below him, Furo and Jolf each stood alongside one another. Lycan merely stared at Dedana in an odd manner. The woman, having forgotten her place, kneeled down with great haste. "My king! They're back...with reinforcements!"

"So?" Furo asked. He scoffed. He was a short and kind of burly man, very buff. Jolf on the side of him was tall, and in perfect shape. "Why Motael and some others can take them on, yes?."

"I don't think so," Dedana shook her head. "They seem far more experienced. They didn't use those machine things to blow our homes up...into pieces."

Jolf's eyebrow raised a bit. He could tell just by doing something like that, that these people were far more impressive. Only skilled warriors were capable of forming their own energy based attacks. "We already know we're being attacked," Jolf responded. "There are two more up north, wreaking havoc."

"W-Wait..." Dedana took a heavy breath. "Seriously?"

"We did announce that any more intruders would be tracked. We were aware and preparing a battle plan. Go outside and tell Valmo to come in. We have a plan to discuss."

"Oh...uhm...about Valmo..."

"Don't tell me that you told him to go off and fight them by himself!?" Furo nearly yelled.

"Where is he?" Jolf asked, speaking much more calmly than his partner on the side of him.

"He went to go fight the two I saw by myself," Dedana responded. "If I had known that you required him for a specific plan then I would have never told him anything."

"Valmo is the weakest link amongst us," Jolf said. "We don't tell him anything unless it's set in stone. We initially had a good idea of our plan. But without him, it's impossible to do."

"In that case then what do we do?" Dedana asked. Moments prior to being here, the woman was confident that with the assistance of the superiors, they'd come out on top yet again. But realizing she had messed it up, the woman was getting quite nervous.

Lycan, the king, hopped off a coffin made of rock. As soon as he stepped down, a crushing sound could be heard subsequent to landing on a skull The king was so pale that he appeared as if he was dead. He was taller than Furo, but shorter than Jolf. He had a slim physique, not very buff, though very toned. He walked over to Dedana. Dedana gulped as her king walked towards her. Never before was he this close. "Kneel."

Dedana didn't have to be told twice. "Yes, my king. Anything that you need I am here for you. Just ask and I'll give."

Lycan turned around and raised his hand into the air. He took off his shirt, revealing his lean body. He threw his coat full of bones towards the ground and stretched his arms out to the side. Dedana looked up. She watched as Lycan's back began to bulge a little bit. Her eyes widened.

WHOSSH!

Out from Lycan's back appeared a pair of wings. They had veins and were quite transparent. Furo scoffed upon realizing what this meant. Jolf looked at Lycan's wings, as they twitched. He nodded and walked over to the king. "I will handle this, my lord."

Lycan nodded as well and brought his wings back into his back. He picked up his coat and went towards a dinner table with nothing but bowls and bones on them. He sat by a bowl, filled with blood and picked it up, going to take a sip.

Dedana looked down in fear, knowing what was coming next. She could hear Jolf's footsteps nearing closer and closer towards her. Once he stood over her he spoke. "Dedana...you have broken law 1260, one of the bigger crimes against Anded and her people. You should not have come here at such a time. Thanks to you that Valmo is gone there is a higher possibility of a lot more of lives being lost than originally calculated." Jolf placed his hands atop Dedana's head. "So for breaking this law...you will die and eventually come back as esclavisas for everyone." Jolf closed his eyes and just placed a little pressure on Dedana's head.

Even as if nothing happened, Dedana just suddenly fell over on her back, eyes rolled up. Jolf turned around. "When she rises from the dead, she will know automatically that she is to be everyone's slave...all of whom still reside in this world. Compliance will be definite."

The customs of their world were quite different than most others. They were extremely set back in technology, though very traditional with their methods. Regardless of what they had, or lack thereof, they had one thing many other species did not: High principals.

"Good," Furo said with a chuckle. "I remember over 75 years ago when Vurma was everyone's slave. Boy did that go wrong. Idiots keep breaking simple rules. I wonder if they even study anymore."

Jolf ignored Furo's comment and looked at his king: Lycan. "What shall we do, my king?"

"Watanoz," Lycan said, speaking in their foreign tongue.

"Wait...what?" Furo asked. He looked over to Jolf, a bit confused. "Can you translate?"

"If you remembered the language of the beginning of our race's creation you'd understand," Jolf responded. "The king wishes for us to wait for Valmo's arrival."

"I understood that first part of the word."

Jolf shook his head. "And so we wait...we shall probably send out the Sora Bolodar?" Jolf asked.

"You're talking about those little flying recording thingies?" Furo asked.

Jolf nodded, still looking onto Lycan.

"Uhnohra," Lycan answered, demanding Jolf to send out their spying cameras at the present moment.

"Very well." Jolf went towards Lycan's coffin. He placed one of his index fingers through the eyes of a skull that was attached to the center of the coffin, with his middle finger in the other. "If my mind serves me correctly then this should be the twentieth category of where the Sora Bolodar lies. Hopefully, we have multiples." The coffin held in multiple weapons and other devices. Yes, they lacked in technology compared to other species, though they were people known for improvising.

Furo and Lycan watched as Jolf pulled out bat-shaped looking devices with obvious screens on them. "Here they are..."

* * *

Raditz stayed observing the fight between his brother and one of the inhabitants of Planet Anded.

Kakarot was in the air, a bit battle damaged. Motael was down below with a few scratches here and there, but nowhere near as much as Kakarot. The young Saiyan raised one of his hands into the air and just unleashed a medium-sized ball ofpurple energy below towards Motael.

Motael balled his fist and aimed it at Kakarot. Four of his knuckles formed beams and shot little lines of energy, which went towards said Saiyan at rapid speeds. Motael hopped into the air, waiting for the attack to near his opponent. Elevating himself in the sky a little bit more Motael looked just below him, where the energy ball was to be. He put his hand straight down and shot a ball of ki at Kakarot's attack. Motael's ball pushed Kakarot's attack into the ground, which was followed by a small explosion, leading up to a grand amount of smoke.

"Where'd he go?" Kakarot was a bit focused on where Motael was, having a hard time sensing for ki, although he was going to have to worry about himself now as there were attacks coming for him. Kakarot blocked his face using his arms by crossing them in an X like position. Each of them did more than just sting, but Kakarot did manage to stand his ground against the attacks that picked at the skin of his arms.

Raditz was still watching, making acute observations. "While Kakarot is the weaker one, he does certainly have some battle experience. Being able to stand up against someone stronger than himself could definitely be used to our advantage when we leave to conquer other worlds."

PIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"Huh?" Raditz's scouter started to beep once it managed to pick up a signal. "There's a power-level over 600 coming here...and quickly." Raditz quickly glanced over at Kakarot, then back to his left. "Kakarot!" Raditz called out. "There's a power coming here and quickly!"

Kakarot just nodded. "I already felt it." The Saiyan blocked a punch from Motael, now more serious than before. "Alright." Kakarot was grinning from ear to ear. "Now let's see how you like me at one hundred percent."

"What?" Motael jumped at Kakarot, taking the Saiyan head on. "Stop bluffing!"

Kakarot ducked under Motael's strike. "Of course..." He came back up and rammed his fist into Motael's stomach. "Actions speak louder than words." Kakarot followed up with a deadly uppercut, sending Motael flying uncontrollably into the sky.

"Kakarot's power-level...it just increased to 450. But how could he hold back so much power at will? It makes no sense."

And here Motael was actually trying, going all out against Kakarot. Thanks to fighting so recklessly, he was fatigued. And fighting fatigued against someone who just warmed up didn't sound like a good idea in Motael's head.

Kakarot shot into the air, making it just above Motael. Kakarot performed an upside down boot, which connected directly against Motael's nose. Kakarot smiled once he heard a crack. Motael was plummetting down like a rocket ship. Once Kakarot was no longer upside down he shot down as fast as he could. Just before Motael could hit the ground Kakarot drove his knee dead in the center of Motael's back, having the man elicit a slight yelp of pain. Kakarot relished this moment, never having demonstrated so much power over someone. Saliva was coming out of Motael's mouth just from the hits.

Just as Motael was lying on Kakarot's knee, Kakarot looked dead into his pained eyes that were on his pale face. The Saiyan kept his knee raised, holding Motael still. Kakarot placed his hand on Motael's stomach. "Maybe if you were a better fighter you'd stand a better chance." Kakarot didn't hesitate and blew Motael's stomach off. He quickly placed his right foot back down before doing so, letting his attack go through and hit the black grass as well. Motael was sent right into the ground. Kakarot just kept his hand out, letting it go on for a few seconds.

There was no screaming or any sounds of pain coming from Motael, who was now dead. Kakarot looked at the man's corpse that lied in a hole, which could definitely be mistaken as a burial. His face could be seen, with the look of acceptance just moments before his death. Kakarot turned around and looked up towards Raditz, who simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"Damn it!" Valmo had just arrived at the scene, witnessing the death of one of his own. "I'm too late." He looked over at Motael's gravesite. Seeing one of the intruders next to it he knew what happened. "Tch...!" Valmo shot down and landed just a dozen yards away from Kakarot. He stood exactly at the Saiyan's height, with the exact same build. His hair was completely down, though the tips of his hair were extremely spiky looking. "You..." Valmo pointed at Kakarot. "You will pay for this...!"

Kakarot knew he was completely outmatched. Out the corner of his eye, he noticed that Raditz wasn't going to do anything except only spectate. Both knew he was outmatched, but he had to try anyway. 'Hm.' Kakarot looked at Valmo, who was staring him down. Not wanting to prolong the fight, Kakarot initiated his next match "I'm going to end this quickly." Kakarot hopped into the air and unleashed approximately a dozen ki attacks.

Valmo shot right passed all of them and went straight to The Saiyan. Kakarot didn't expect this and went to block his face by crossing his arms. Valmo didn't hesitate and broke right through Kakarot's defenses with a hard elbow. Once Kakarot was completely open Valmo struck the Saiyan right across the face with a complete open palm.

Kakarot's face instantly went red, leaving a handprint. Valmo didn't stop there and smacked him once more. Even though he was being smacked none of those attacks tickled. Valmo struck him with such force that if he happened to punch him, it would possibly break his jaw. Valmo kept his palms open, ready to strike Kakarot once again. "Now let's do it like this..." out of his hands were spikes coming right from his hands.

Kakarot noted this instantly and flew backward, still looking ahead at Valmo. He blinked once and Valmo was no longer where he last saw him. Kakarot felt an energy behind him and re-directed himself by shooting up into the air, just barely avoiding his opponent. Once he looked up he saw Valmo looking right at him. Kakarot didn't stop on time and was bopped right atop the ahead with a double axe handle strike.

Kakarot shot back down, almost hitting the ground face first as he saved himself by landing on all fours. Kakarot placed his right hand behind him and shot a few ki attacks away. Valmo swatted all of them away and continued his way headfirst with his palms open. "Your life ends here!"

Kakarot crawled away before pushing himself off the ground and flipping back onto his two feet. As soon as he turned around Valmo came right at him and punched him in the face. Kakarot's face was directed at the ground, leaving another opening for Valmo, who had his hands open and ready to strike right through Kakarot's chest plate.

Kakarot's eyes shot open the moment they went through and pierced his skin. "RAGH!" Those spikes he felt going into his chest plate reached a bit into his chest, which now bled. On impulse, the Saiyan raised his elbow and struck it right down at Valmo's arm. Kakarot managed to send Valmo's arm down, detaching the spiky material from Valmo's hands. Luckily for the newly recruited Saiyan, it didn't go in too deep and didn't strike any vital organs

Kakarot grabbed the spikes and pulled them out of his chest, which made more blood come out, leaking down his armor. "Tch!" He tossed them over to the ground. He managed to warm himself up during his fight with Motael. Though fighting Valmo to the end would not only be a challenge but extremely exhausting as well.

'Come on Kakarot...' Raditz was itching to jump in, but he controlled himself. 'Show me you can win even when the odds are stacked against you.' Raditz tried his best to remain still and only spectate. He knew Kakarot would have trouble in this fight, though he wanted to see if his brother had any tricks up his sleeve...anything to turn the battle around.

Valmo shot at Kakarot with his other palm that had spikes attached to those as well. Kakarot bent backward, just barely evading the sharp and lethal material. Once Kakarot rose back up he struck Valmo right across the face. Valmo's head barely budged. Valmo kneed Kakarot in the ribs and elbowed him in the face. With each strike, Kakarot felt as if something in his body was on the very verge of breaking.

Kakarot charged an energy attack in his hand and blasted Valmo head-on before him. "DIE!" He stood there and waited, hoping he inflicted at least some bit of damage.

Valmo simply stood there, not even affected. His tunic was tattered a bit, and his skin a bit scratched, though nothing more than that. Kakarot jumped back a bit in order to create distance between him and Valmo, breathing heavily. "I'm going to end this!" He had his hands up and behind his head, creating a sizable ball of purple ki, which had dark black lines of ki crepitating around it.

"Not on my watch...!" Valmo wasn't going to permit Kakarot get the drop on him anything against him and dashed forward the Saiyan.

Valmo didn't let Kakarot unleash his attack and gut-checked the Saiyan with great force. Kakarot's ball of energy did begin to fade, but he stood in control. Kakarot clenched his jaw. He charged more energy into his attack. "RAH!" Kakarot hit Valmo dead on.

Valmo didn't even have time to block. Kakarot's attack connected and managed to send him back a little, though not much. 'Kakarot just managed to push his power up to 500 just using that attack...somehow he is able to place energy into one main focal point and enhance his power doing so...even I can't do that.'

Valmo placed his hands under the attack and shot it into the sky. He looked up, watching as it flew away. Kakarot came right at him and punched him dead in the stomach the moment he found an opening. Valmo slightly budged, though didn't display much of a reaction. He elbowed Kakarot right in the nose, sending the Saiyan stumbling back. Charging an energy attack in the hands, he aimed at Kakarot and fired.

Kakarot was sent sliding away on the ground, rolling over from the impact of the attack. Raditz shook his head, seeing his brother being beaten pathetically. 'Fool...He's not going to survive this. No matter how many nice techniques you may know, strength is everything in battle!'

Valmo placed his right out and above his head. "Now your turn." The energy shot from the palm of his hand and into the air. Once the ball of ki reached 30 feet into the air, it was re-directed back down and onto Kakarot.

Kakarot looked up, certain death to be coming his way. If it hit, then there was nothing he'd be able to do to get back up from it.

"Enough of this bullshit...!" Raditz dashed over in front of Kakarot and swatted the attack away from them both. The Saiyan had enough of his brother's poor performance and jumped in before Kakarot would receive a fate equal to those he had killed before. "Your fate will now be decided by me...!" Raditz pointed at himself.

Valmo crouched down, deciding to take on Raditz as well. "Then let it be so. Give me your best shot." He had an extremely easy time with Kakarot, so he didn't think anything of it when it came to Raditz wanting to face him as well.

"Hn!" Raditz faded out of sight, initiating his battle. Kakarot wasn't able to spot Raditz's movement and tried to sense out for his ki, though Raditz was all over the place. Kakarot looked over to Valmo and saw that the male was struggling to feel for Raditz just as much as he was.

Valmo didn't even expect the long-haired Saiyan to appear before him with such speed and be struck hard in the gut just after seeing 's eyes were heavy, feeling like they were going to pop at any time due to Raditz's raw force of power, his feet starting to be forced off the ground. He clutched at his stomach in pain as he was being sent into the air prior to sliding through the black grass.

Raditz rose into the air and came down, stomping hard on Valmo's chest. Raditz chuckled and raised his foot, stomping on Valmo once more, hearing cracks from the man's body. Valmo let out another squeak. Raditz laughed a bit more, louder this time. Each stomp Valmo was in more pain. Each stomp he let out a louder yell. Each stomp Raditz laughed more at his pain, taking sincere pleasure from his victim's torture.

Kakarot watched from afar, ignoring Raditz's sadistic nature, thinking of other things. 'Is this how they've been living all their lives...fighting far greater opponents.' Kakarot couldn't fathom just how strong many others were. 'I was beginning to think I was unstoppable, that I'm the strongest to ever exist and then he comes along...' Raditz continued to stomp on Valmo, displaying complete dominance over him. 'I am going to be the best still...even if it means I have to surpass my brother...and those above him.'

"Alright!"

CRACK

"BUAHAHAHAHAAHA! You should have stayed home, pest!" Raditz raised his foot one more. "Say goodbye!" This time Raditz stomped as hard as he could, but not on Valmo's chest. All but this time he stomped on his head, breaking his skull in.

Once he was finished, Raditz turned around with a wide grin on his face. "And that...Kakarot. Is how you get it done."

* * *

Far up north Vegeta and Nappa were having some fun as well, destroying anything they saw at a moment's notice. Eventually, like Kakarot and Raditz, they were met with some people bold enough to attack. Multiple pale faces around them, men and women...some even children. "The past couple of cave villages couldn't even take any of us on..." Nappa chuckled. "What makes all of you think you even remotely have a chance?"

Vegeta just observed the exponential amount of people willing to take them all on. "There's over 200 of them. This is the biggest lot we've encountered yet." He clicked his scouter, looking to see if he were to get a decent reading from at least a handful of them. Once he checked everyone's power individually, Vegeta let out a disappointed sigh. "Although unfortunately none of these fools have a power-level over 150." He then grinned. Turning his attention over to the natives, Vegeta spoke. "I propose a challenge! How about all of you weaklings attack at once."

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" The first 50 people all hopped 100 feet into the air. The other 50 each lined up below, 75 feet into the air. The other 50 hopped 50 feet, with the last 50 all going 25 feet into the air. Each and every one of these pale-faced creatures charged energy attacks, ready to do away with the duo in a single alliance of four lines.

"Fools," Vegeta said. "I was simply playing. We know basic math. As if we were truly going to let the lot of you take us out!"

Nappa scoffed and raised two fingers upward. The first group that stood 25 feet in the air were all done with instantly, going up in smokes. Quickly Nappa used his same two fingers and swiped it across his face. A hellish fire enveloped a good amount of the individuals before them, having them all just eventually explode one by one.

Vegeta chuckled and shot a little small attack towards those 75 feet up. The group above couldn't believe how fast all of their people were being wiped out. The little attack Vegeta sent hit the man in the middle of it all. Just instantly right after a grand explosion went ouff...wiping out every single being 75 feet in the air. Slowly their bodies began to form into dust.

Vegeta grinned. "Now that it's quite even...you can all give it your best shot."

He and Nappa took joy of the ashes of every one they just disintegrated came down to the ground, only to be blown away by the wind.

"YOU WILL PAY!"

Vegeta and Nappa both waited patiently until the attacks came right towards them.

Furo, Jolf, and the king Lycan all watched on record what was taking place thanks to their bots. "It's obvious that the two that took out Motael and Valmo are the weaker ones." Jolf looked to the other camera. "These two, however..."

Lycan and the other two watched Vegeta and Nappa take out one of their stronger people, all of whom were a force to be reckoned with when they came together as one. "Valmo won't be coming back anytime soon," Furo mentioned.

Lycan turned around. Snapping his fingers, Furo and Jolf both looked onto their king. Jolf looked over to their king, awaiting him to speak. Looking directly at Furo he was going to give orders. "Gayaset ta thlos twas debeaka."

Furo nodded. He didn't have much of a good understanding when it came to their native tongue, but he managed to decipher out all of what his king said and smiled, finally going out into action for the first time in a long time. "That I understood." He turned around and took off right out the door.

"Do you wish for me to go off for the stronger two, my king?" Jolf asked as he kneeled before him.

Lycan nodded. "Mazakit Quarida."

Jolf smirked, knowing what he had to do. He, like Furo, was going to get into the spring of action as well. They only fought when things were dire, though they knew that they had everything under control. "Done." He left right out the door.

Once Lycan was left alone he sighed. "They won't stand a chance..." He turned around, looking right at his own coffin. He had many thoughts going through his head. He stood there, trying to make a simple decision. "Extra help we will require." Lycan walked over to his coffin, realizing what he had to do. He placed two fingers of his right hand into the eyes of a skull attached to his coffin and had is other two fingers do the same on the second skull attached to the coffin made up of simple rock. He looked at it and spoke a simple chant aloud in his native tongue. "Myi Giod kengaset pato Myeo. Thur hadyulp wenos kneedanos."

Lycan stepped back from the coffin, having finished the simple ritual. As an inferior would do their king, Lycan rose down onto his knee and had his eyes glued to the floor. The coffin began to change its shape. Slowly what used to be a coffin full of skulls on it was turned into a chair...as if it was a throne.

On the throne there was a man, sitting. He had a cloak on that covered his head, as well as his entire body. Inside the cloak, it was so dark that he couldn't be seen. The only thing that was noted was his red glowing eyes from the inside. His arms were all completely covered by long, grey sleeves with his legs being covered in the same silky material. Not one bit of skin on his body was allowed to be shown, even his hands, which had on gloves.

"Kharon...guardian of Planet Anded. It has been exactly 81 years since you have last been summoned, my god."

"When the influence took place..." Kharon spoke, his lowly tone sending chills down the King's spine.

"Yes." Lycan rose. "Myeo kneedo thur hadyulp."

"Our language has been long forgotten," the Guardian said. " Only three of us are capable of understanding the native tongue now, the regulars having long passed. We must stick with what's new and adapt.." Kharon spotted one of the cameras on the ceiling. There he could see countless lives being taken by the two upper-class Saiyans. "So...that's them?" Judging by how he asked, he didn't seem impressed in the slightest.

Lycan nodded his head. "Furo and Jolf are both bound to fail, my god. When they die I am in to go to battle myself. If I fall...the return of the first and last king shall be fit."

Kharon nodded, seeing how Lycan was referring to himself. "As I had my prophet that you killed say. I was to return very soon indeed. 81 years is not even a nap for me. But I see that my people are in need. You did well calling on me, Lycan."

Lycan nodded as he stood back to his feet, not daring to look his god in the eye. "Thank you."

Back on earth...outside in the far reaches of the planet where nobody would even dare to go.

* * *

"This doesn't make any fucking sense!"

A meeting was going on there being a sit-down. The shelter was very big and in this little room, a group of people was discussing something in a very dark area. People knew who was who and where they were, but it was almost virtually impossible to be able to see. "We managed to get one of the Dragon Balls...and next thing you know it disappeared. We can't even find it anymore!"

At this long table, Colonel Silver, General White, General Blue, Captain Dark, Captain Yellow, Colonel Violet, and General Copper all sat the table. Each of these individuals had to do with the Red Ribbon Army, an infamous group of people that only used their power for evil deeds. Like others that knew of the Dragon Balls, their objective for years now had been to obtain them in order to wish for their own selfish desires.

"So, how are we going to solve this?" Red, the one in demand of everything, asked. Behind him being Officer Black, who stood tall and mighty over everyone in the room. "How are we going to finally be able to rule over this planet? Any ideas?"

Complete silence was all anyone could respond. Red rubbed his temple, becoming more and more frustrated. "We're all going to die before we even find three of them! Any fucking ideas!?"

"Why don't we try to make a more advanced tracker?" General Blue asked cooly, trying to lower the tension in the room.

"Yeah..." Murmurs around the table began to take place as they were all in fair agreement with this idea. It was so simple that nobody happened to think of such a thing until now.

"I'm not going to waste my time or money doing that," Red said. "I remember the sacred spot I had my dragon ball we got from that Indian freak a couple of years back thanks to Tao Pai Pai's little apprentice back then. I go back in a long time to check up on my precious and it's gone. I don't want that to happen again."

"What could possibly be a different approach to taking over the world then?" General White asked.

"Don't be so simple-minded," Colonel violet spoke. She grinned and eyed everyone during the meeting. "We have an army. Even the king's defenses are too scared to go ahead and take us all out. If we truly require something, then we can just take it by force. Nobody'd be able to stop us."

"But that's the thing," General Copper added on. "If we decide to try and take them all on, they will definitely fight back. And once we began to rule over we don't want to have to waste our first few minutes as leaders rebuilding the damn planet. Once we go in, we need to focus on making new laws."

"I agree," Captain Dark said.

"Me as well," Captain Yellow added. "We need a more aggressive approach to things."

Red listened to them all, weighing in the cost and reward of their suggestions. Even though they were pitching in he still couldn't think of anything else truly worth listening to. He was in the minority when it came to taking things offensively and hoped that another idea would come out and about. "That's it! The very next new idea that is spoken...I WILL TAKE IT!"

Everyone remained quiet. Slowly they each began to start thinking. A lot of them were in general favor of taking things by force. General Copper came up with an idea and was beginning to speak. But before he could state his mind doors from behind opened.

In appeared a rather slender tanned skin, blue-eyed individual with long white hair that reached his spine. "Why I believe I have a few ideas..."

Everyone looked onto the man that just entered the building and with great surprise that they were looking at one of the founders of the Red Ribbon Army. "Hello...I'm sure you all know used to know me as the biggest brain known to mankind...Dr. Gero."


	15. NWO

On Planet Anded, the four Saiyans were all rather enjoying themselves as they continued to conquer over an entire world full of people. Kakarot was on his first mission to an entirely different world for the first time in his life and was enjoying himself, getting to experience how the other three lived their lives for the past 20+ years. The destruction and turmoil that was being caused seem to be incessant, with no end. However while there were certain worlds in jeopardy, there are others which are completely safe and sound.

Take Planet Earth for instance. Ever since Kakarot left, nothing has happened so far. Once more everything was brought right back to normal subsequent to the fight with Piccolo years ago. Since then, there had been nothing but peace.

In one area, a city called Gingertown, which was surrounded by nothing but mountains, Krillin and Lazuli were both walking away from a clothing's store. The two were smiling and laughing as they exited from the place, just having a good time over there. Lazuli had a hand full of bags, having to strap others onto her shoulders as well. Even though she could definitely handle heavy weight, it was practically impossible to carry the amount of bags that she had with just the two of her hands.

"I can't believe Yamcha actually tried to do that!" Lazuli was laughing. Krillin was telling an embarrassing story about Yamcha from the past when they had got finished training under the teachings of Muten Roshi.

On the way towards the car Krillin used to bring them to the store, the short bald man chuckled. "Bulma doesn't quite appreciate guests who just show up at her bedroom door during midnight. I wouldn't blame her for kicking him out, to be honest." Krillin opened the back doors to the car and let Lazuli put in the bags she had carried. All of them went alongside dozens of others. "Oh! Did Bulma also tell you about her little mishap not too long ago?"

"Hm? A mishap?" Lazuli hadn't heard of anything that happened with Bulma recently.

Krillin pointed towards his head. "Don't you see the scar she has now? Surely she told you the story!"

"Well, yes," Lazuli responded, now seeing what Krillin was talking about. "It was kind of bad."

"Well...what happened?" Krillin inquired, obviously eager to get more information about what happened to Bulma.

"She ran into an old friend," Lazuli responded. "Heh...well not really an old friend. But a familiar face."

"But who?" Krillin asked.

Lazuli got into the passenger side and closed the door shut. She waited for Krillin to enter the driver's spot before she resumed talking. "Look at all the signs we have in West City and various other places." She pointed, her finger pressed against the window of their car. "The billboards...Kakarot."

"Kakarot?!" Krillin nearly gasped. Practically in disbelief, Krillin shook his head, all the while placing keys into the engine of the car. "You mean the former fighter now turned multi-billionaire?"

"What gives you the idea he's a formal fighter?" Lazuli asked.

"I just haven't been hearing about him in the tournaments recently. The only time I hear about him now is when people are out sending search parties for him. You hear the news? he was supposed to go on a search party, but people haven't seen him in days!"

Lazuli looked out the window, watching as the places just zoomed passed their faces while driving. "Well, that fits into Bulma's other part of the story," Lazuli spoke. "When Kakarot went to attend a one on one meeting with Bulma, they apparently had a disruption."

"A disruption?" Krillin glanced at Lazuli, then went to place his eyes back on the road. "They haven't joined forces yet? I mean, I thought they did so by now. It would both of them make more money, right?"

Lazuli shook her head. "Bulma told me that she was going to consider it. But in came an intruder. She and the entire capsule corporation business have been keeping quiet about how their intruder barged in, killing over a dozen of workers with no hesitation."

"Wait...seriously?" Krillin questioned, finding that hard to believe. "That sounds like more than just a disruption to me, personally."

"Bulma gave a good bit of money to all members of the family that had a passing due to that situation. It was hush money, but she gave them enough to last a good few generations, depending on they spend their money, of course."

"That's something Bulma would do," Krillin said.

"Yes. Turns out the man was Kakarot's brother. Kakarot's not even a human."

"Holy..." Krillin scratched the back of his head, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. He was blank for a few seconds. "Uhm...now that I look back at it, Kakarot has always been a little abnormal. For a kid his size when he was a boy, he was something else." Krillin went back to the time when he and Kakarot fought in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai and how easy Kakarot was just toying with him. " But what type of alien is he...he looks completely human to me."

"That, I don't know exactly. Kami did mention how he spotted a ship coming in around 2 decades ago. In that little ship was a little baby boy. If I had to come to a conclusion, I'd definitely say Kakarot comes from a race bred of fighters. It only makes sense for someone like him. Kami has said that Piccolo and Kakarot are in of no league to Kakarot's brother...even with combined strengths."

"You're shitting me!" Krillin exclaimed. "Piccolo has been the biggest threat to earth and he's nothing compared to this guy that came over? And you're here telling me that there are beings out there even far stronger than they are?"

"Yes," Lazuli nodded. "And this may be the last day I see you for days at a time."

"But why?" Krillin eyed Lazuli out the corner of his eye. "I was looking forward to going out to eat tomorrow night..."

"You never know when a threat is to come now," Lazuli mentioned. "It's probably best you train during your free time as well. We'll need everyone we can to protect us from the greater evils out there."

"I see your point..." Krillin then went onto look ahead and pay attention to the road. The former monk was a bit disappointed at how he wouldn't be able to go out to eat with Lazuli. He was genuinely looking out for a good time tomorrow evening. From afar he could see something blocking their way. "Lazuli...do you see that?" Krillin glanced over Lazuli's way, to see if she had recognized anything peculiar herself. They were pretty far, but judging from what Krillin was seeing, there was a lot of people.

Lazuli took a look as well, wondering what Krillin was talking to her about. The closer they got the more apparent it became. "T-That looks like...a good amount of people. As if they were some sort of army or something."

Krillin stopped the car, as did many others behind them.

Before them, both stood over hundreds of men with weapons in their hands and even some tanks in the back as well. Something unusual was going on and they were going to find out just what it was soon.

If anything, it wasn't good, not in the slightest.

* * *

Far out in the near middle of nowhere was a rather big home...the home that Chi-Chi, Ox and her beloved Kakarot lived. This was the castle that Gyumao lived in. They tweaked it up a bit (A LOT), making bigger space for everyone, which was more than comfortable enough for them.

It had been a couple of weeks since Kakarot been home and it usually only lasted one week or maybe a week and a half for Kakarot to complete a business trip. Chi-Chi didn't begin to fret over her husband's absence until she heard of a search party looking for him. Ox was the main one to assure his mother that Kakarot was doing fine. Besides, he was the toughest guy in the world. What type of danger could he possibly encounter while on a business trip?

Ox was peacefully in his room, going over some books. His sparring with Chi-Chi lessened, neither of them taking much pleasure in fighting one another. Ox usually enjoyed sparring with his father more. He was reading a book of advanced literature, something adults were only ones to read. "And then the man lied down in his own blood...looking up to the ones he believed he could trust the most. Yet again, betrayed. He swore vengeance on those that had stabbed him in the back and went onto k-"

SMASHSH!

Ox jumped and instantly shut his book closed, obviously being caught by surprise due to the loud noise he heard coming from downstairs. He didn't speak another word. Remaining silent he tried to listen out for any weird noises coming inside his home, in order to pinpoint the exact location. He heard a loud bang coming from inside yet again, this one louder than the other. 'Mom...' Ox's mind began to race, knowing his mother shouldn't be here at this moment. 'But didn't she go to the store? Or did she get back...?' Ox didn't know what to do. Ox could hear large heavy footsteps from the hallway nearing his room, which didn't sound like the simple quick taps of his mother at all, he knew something was up. Quickly Ox decreased his ki and shot over a wall.

His door opened, revealing a giant tall man, so tall that he would have to crouch in order to enter the room without bumping his head. Ox was hiding right behind the door, hoping to not be spotted. 'Why can't I sense his battle power...he's literally right here!' The boy was confused. His dad taught him that as long as that any person had life, he'd be capable of sensing their energy, no matter how faint it may appear.

The man who held the doorknob just rammed his head through the top frame of where the door was closed. Shown was a big muscle man with red hair and dark sunglasses. He had on black gloves and maintained this rather straight face look, completely blank and void of emotion. "Scanning room...Kakarot not found."

'Kakarot..? Don't they mean my father?' The tall man exited out the room and backed out. Ox waited for a few moments. He heard another loud crash. 'Okay...mom's not here...she would have forced me to help her bring in groceries if she was.' The boy was a bit relieved now, knowing his mother wasn't in any danger.

"WAGH! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

Ox's tail nearly plopped off his tailbone. Quickly he came from behind the door and entered through the hallway. He knew that voice belonged to his mother, and whatever situation she was in, was not good at all. "MOMMY!" Ox proceeded to make his way to his mother's location, just hoping that she was okay at the very least.

"OX! STAY AWAY!" Another loud crash could be heard.

Ox slid right into the living-room, his socks allowing him to slide right on in. Before him, his eyes were set on big gaping hole through the walls in the living room. 'What...?' The young boy quickly hopped out of the hole, touching down on the green grass before him, eyes straight ahead.

Outside were guests waiting just for him. The small boy had his eyes on multiple people, more than he had personally expected. One of them was the same big dude from earlier, though that was the only one he recognized. Another one on the side of him was also tall, but smaller and definitely more burly. He had scars coming across the top of his forehead and had on a suit. He was the man who had his mother, big hands around her small throat.

"Let her go!" Ox yelled, a deep mixture of fear, anger, and confusion coming from the tone of his voice. The boy was angry that they had his mother, nor did he know why they had anything to do with her. The biggest thing that worried him was the fact that he only managed to sense the ki of one of the men, who spoke.

"Your main focus is on this young lady here, when it should be elsewhere." Out from behind the two big men was a seemingly buff man, an obvious senior in his years. He had pure white hair. "General White," he said with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

Ox didn't care for pleasantries in moments like these and only had concerns for his mother. "Let my mommy go!"

"Nuh-uh." White shook his head, puffing on a cigar of his. "You see...my friendly androids...and I'd put emphasis on friendly...are helping out with something. If you are willing to hear us out, then the chances of your mommy living will increase tenfold."

"Okay..." Ox was rather nervous, but being a smart boy he knew this was perhaps the only best option. This was for the safety of his mother after all.

"I am General White...apart of the infamous Red Ribbon Army. We are the most superpowered organization in the entire world. Even the earth's military defenders know better than to mess with us. We've had plans on taking over the entire world for some time now, you see. And well our initial plan isn't going to come to fruition any time soon. So now we have to take a different route..."

"O-...Ox...!" Chi-Chi tried to speak, choking on her words due to the lack of oxygen thanks to the tightened grip around her neck. "Don't...l-listen to...him!"

Ox's eyes were dead onto his mother. White smirked, noticing that any moment now Ox would be coming right for his mother. "Kakarot hasn't done anything to us. And for that we thank him. Rumors went around in our organization of him beating Piccolo single-handedly. Not sure if that is true or not. But we need your father kid...as an example. You see...Kakarot is one of the most well-known men on this planet...alongside Bulma Briefs and her father. With all the rich people and their influence, we can use them to our advantage. We can have them recorded, weak and defenseless. Even the Earth's king! We will bend people under our will into fear using these people as a great deterrent effect. But don't worry...in the end, your father will be back with you."

Ox shook his head. Even if such a thing would ensure the live of his mother, it wasn't possible. "My daddy is on a business trip! He won't be here anytime soon!"

General White chuckled, thinking that the brat was choosing the hard way of things. "We have people searching practically every corner of this planet...and here you are telling me that I can't find him." White looked over to Chi-Chi, whose face began to go pale with a bluish color. "Think about your precious mommy here. So tell me, where is Kakarot!" General White pulled out a gun. The man was losing patience and hoped he didn't have to take things to the extreme in order to get what he wanted. "Android Eight! Toss her over."

Android Eight did as he was told and threw Chi-Chi over by White's foot. Chi-Chi landed hard on her back, gasping hard for air like a fish out of water. She didn't catch a break however as General White picked her up forcibly by her hair with his revolved pressed against her temple. "So...I have another option! We can broadcast his entire family instead."

"I won't let that happen!" Chi-Chi bit General White's hand that was placed across her neck. General White growled and let the gun go off. Chi-Chi was a very quick and versatile woman despite being a mother and dodged just in time as she ducked the bullet passing through her black hair. She elbowed White in the balls and came right back up, hitting him with a spinning kick right to the hip.

White was sent sliding on the ground, wincing in pain. "OWgh..." White was grasping at his hip, which was no doubt bruised. "I see how it is." The man slowly rose back to his feet, now clutching his junk. "Take these two out." Android Eight began to close in on Ox. White chuckled. "Let's see how strong Dr. Gero's updated version of the androids are."

Ox spotted the bigger guy going right to his mother. "No!" With a sense of dire urgency, Ox hopped off his back foot, shooting right for Chi-Chi.

Android Eight swung at Ox, trying to catch him off guard. Ox placed his arms before his face, blocking Eight's face head-on. But the impact was strong enough to send him going right back towards the ground and sliding through the grass. Ox's back hit the ground hard, but he bounced back up quickly, shooting himself into the sky as soon as he executed a handspring. Eight watched as Ox just then came back down, cocking his fist to prepare himself. Ox waited at the very last moment as he neared Eight's face. Instantly Ox re-directed himself vertically, leaving Eight to miss a supposed certain strike.

Ox made his way towards Major, who was going to grab Chi-Chi. Ox placed his leg out and kicked Major right on the side of the face. Major was forced to fall hard on his side, his shades being knocked right off and landing on the ground, cracking in the process. Ox touched down right on his feet, scowling. "Leave my mommy out of this!"

"Little brat, we can do as we please!" General White said aloud.

"Grrr!"

"Ox, behind you!" Chi-Chi warned.

Ox didn't notice the shadow coming from behind him until his mother warned him. 'I couldn't sense him!' Ox turned around as quickly as he possibly could, though he had no time to react.

Eight picked Ox up, rendering the child a bear hug from behind. Ox struggled to break free away from Eight's grip, Eight's hands being far too big, as well as his arms. "No...!" The kid's legs were flailing around, as well as his tail, but to no avail.

General White chuckled. "Things didn't have to be this way if you only would comply, brat. Finish her off, Major!"

"Let her be!" Ox yelled once again, his face getting redder. The boy absolutely despised the lack of control he had as he was being held against his will, seeing his mother in danger as well just made matters worse.

"Our reign of terror has just begone, boy!" General White put his gun away. "It's a shame I had to bring out two androids just to handle a little twat. But if it gets the job done, then so be it."

Chi-Chi shot up at Major and went to kick him across the face, which she did successfully. Major didn't even flinch, just staring at her. Chi-Chi landed right down back on her feet. Major lifted his fist, readying himself. Chi-Chi backed up on impulse, just missing Major's giant fists by a centimeter. "Let me go!" Ox continued to struggle.

"Stop resisting," Eight said.

Chi-Chi hopped back constantly, forming a great amount of distance between her and Major. But even still, he continued to walk closer in on Chi-Chi. "Back up!"

Major Metallitron used his robotic eyes to scan over Chi-Chi. This gave out all her info, from her name to her very blood type. "Hm." Major opened his mouth out wide.

Chi-Chi noticed a bright energy coming from the back of Major's mouth. Chi-Chi quickly hopped up right into the sky in order to evade the attack from hitting her dead on. She looked down below her, a gaping hole being spotted in the ground.

"GRRR!" Ox rammed the back of his head against Eight's face. "Let..." He hit him again. "Me..." and again..."Go!" And once more, absolutely struggling to break free.

But even still Eight merely stood there, no damage having been done towards him at all.

The moment Chi-Chi landed down on her feet, she was rendered a hard boot to the chest. Chi-Chi was immediately caught by surprise and sent gliding just above the green grass. Major unattached his left elbow, revealing a cannon inside his arm. Chi-Chi hit her back hard, lying there.

"NOOO!"

The giant canon shot a giant attack right for Chi-Chi. The wife of Kakarot, also mother of Ox, didn't see this coming. She let out a loud wince of pain as the attack came right into contact. She was sent sliding across the grass, all types of parts of her clothing torn and shredded.

General White chuckled. "Look at that...couldn't even last twenty seconds."

Chi-Chi was greatly weakened by that attack. While being a rather versatile fighter, it had been a while since Chi-Chi truly fought and due to this, she could not endure that much. She was rather lucky to still be breathing...barely.

"No..." Ox felt his heat plummet deep down into his stomach. His tail was lashing side to side, just showing how much he wanted to just get free and help his mom. "Please..." the boy's vision began to get blurry, to the point of where he could barely see straight.

White pulled out a gun from his back pocket. Chi-Chi lied on her back, completely dazed. He cocked the gun back. Slowly White turned his head towards his shoulder, looking Ox dead into his wide, fearful eyes.

'No!' Ox was hoping for a miracle. Something, anything that would intervene with the current situation. The boy just hoped that this man didn't pull the trigger...for the sake of his mother.

BANG!

The first bullet went through Chi-Chi's chest, the force of it knocking her off her feet. She fell down onto her back, clutching at her bleeding chest. She looked up at White, who still had the gun pointed at her face.

Ox's entire body just shook, his tail twitching seeing his mother just shot. He was aware of the damage that guns managed to do to people, and it was lethal. That first shot sent cold chills down the boy's spine, all down to his furry tail, which didn't stop twitching.

BANG

And yet more another jump coming from him. This one went through the other side of Chi-Chi's chest, piercing her heart. The back of the woman's head fell against the hard grass beneath her, her eyes slowly rolling to the back of his head. "Kkkk..."

"Mommy!" Ox yelled at the top of his lungs, bright tears rolling down his reddened cheeks.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk!" He looked back to Ox. "It didn't have to be this way kid. Just remember...you chose this."

BANG...BANG!

The two bullets went from her stomach to her head, both going straight through. The woman wasn't moving anymore.

"Stop...!" Ox's eyes were dripping tears. He knew it was too late, but he just wished for the torture to cease. The man had did far more than enough.

The only time Chi-Chi's body happened to move was with each time a new bullet was sent through her.

"You're liking this, kid?"

BANG! BANG BANG! BANG!

"STOP!" Ox pleaded, his voice cracking.

General White chuckled and clicked his gun, showing seven empty barrels in the chamber. He got more bullets from his pocket so he could shoot some more. The man had done far more than enough by this point, though by now he was doing it for mere amusement.

He rolled the cylinder before placing it back inside the gun. "A few more wouldn't hurt.

BANG BANG!

His mother had holes through her chest, stomach, head, shoulders, legs, and hips. Nothing but blood leaked out of the holes from the woman's lifeless body.

Ox's distress completely turned into fury. Such a sight would be traumatizing for any normal child, having them wrapped up in fear and despair. Not this kid, though. He recalled asking, pleading for him to stop, though he didn't listen. The bullet holes he saw all over his mother angered him to no end. "I SAID...STOP!"

Eight was caught by surprise, having the four-year-old boy break his strong grip on him. Ox fell right on his feet, his gums showing. Never before was Ox this angry before. Nobody had taught him how to control it, so he just had to let loose somehow.

"I HATE YOU!" Ox yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Hm?" General White removed his finger from the gun's trigger. He realized any kid would act out upon seeing their parent murdered before their very own eyes, but at the same time, Ox's reaction was rather different to exactly White was expecting in his own mind. He was actually interested.

Ox was literally shaking. A little bright aura started to surround him, the ground below him shaking. "Hum?" White and the two androids accompanying him knew that something fishy was going on, but as for exactly what, none knew.

"RAH!" Ox's bright, white aura surrounded his body, the brilliant and radiant glow that steadily increased in size.

Eight looked at his hands. "What is this?" Being right behind the little boy, android eight could feel his boyd beginning to heat up. He was one of the older models and wasn't prepared for this type of heat that was emitting from the livid child's aura.

Slowly his clothes began to burn, having them eventually burst into flames. Eight started to yell out loud, completely bewildered as to what was going on. He could feel his entire system overheating.

"I WON'T FORGIVE!" Ox had burst off towards Major Metallitron. The great amount of energy left behind by Ox had Eight literally explode in pieces.

"HOW IN THE..." White, never before, happened to see something so abnormal. This little brat was on the verge of exploding, or so it seemed like it.

Major's head came flying off its shoulders just from the solid punched rendered to him by the four-year-old... Major's body began to stumble before landing hard on his back, hard. Ox hopped into the air, shooting up towards the clouds. He re-directed himself down, coming at Major like a rocket. The boy was flying so quickly that General White could only see his face. Everything from the neck down to the boy was a complete blur to him.

Major's eyes couldn't even get a hold. Ox rammed into Major with such force that he was split in half. Ox quickly picked himself back up, surrounded by Major Metallitron, or lack thereof, pieces of him by the boy's feet.

General White was shaking, the gun in his hands dropping to the ground. Instantly the gun went off, the pistol having been aimed at Ox directly as it was shot. Ox caught the bullet, his hands being faster than it. With a loud yell, full of rage and hatred, the furious boy cocked his arm behind his back and slung it right over back to White as hard as he possibly could.

White didn't have a chance to dodge at all. His last seconds of life were just mouth wide, hoping that somehow this would miss. Although he would learn not to keep his mouth wide open, letting the bullet pass right through his mouth, coming out right from the back of his neck. The man fell over on his back, eyes wide of surprise.

Both Chi-Chi and White lied next to one another. Ox was left alone in the middle of it all, breathing heavily. Such anger had taken a lot from the boy. Not one single thing he did was held back. "Daddy...where are you?" He stood aside from his mother, just staring into her white eyes. If anyone were to witness the little boy now, then they'd see his knees beginning to buckle. Not finding any type of control over his own body, Ox just fell over on his knees, head falling into Chi-Chi's lap that was filled with blood. Silent whimpers of tears were all he could make as he mourned the loss of his mother.

* * *

In a different region of the earth, a plane was flying in the air. Yamcha was making his way from Roshi's house back to West City. In a plane he and Puar were in, taking their time to get there. Both were unaware of the total evil agenda that the Red Ribbon Army had planned.

"Do you think she forgave me, Puar?" Yamcha asked, referring to Bulma, who decided to take a break from him.

"I don't know!" Puar's squeaky voice came about. "You really did creep her out. But I hope she is willing to forgive you this time!"

"Yeah...me, too." Yamcha continued to drive his jet in the air. The man was making his way over to Bulma to apologize for what he recently did, hanging out with a group of females, something he wasn't supposed to do. Bulma was very stern about that with him, though he still didn't listen to her.

Puar looked over and peaked out the window. "Hey...Yamcha!"

"Yeah, what is it Puar?"

Puar pointed outside down below, having spotted some peculiar stuff going on below. "Why are there a bunch of military people outside of Bulma's home?"

"Wait...what?" Yamcha started to lower his jet a little bit. "Hey, Puar...is that a helicopter there?" Yamcha was looking as hard as he could, although he still could not see very well because he was in control of the vehicle.

Puar nodded. "Yeah...and it says something on it." He squinted his eyes, though he couldn't see it very well.

"Hold up..." Yamcha got up. "Switch spots with me. You take control of the wheel for the meanwhile."

Puar and Yamcha both got off their seats and transferred spots. As soon as Yamcha sat down he looked out the window as well, now seeing from Puar's former point of view. "That is a copter..." Yamcha said, examining it. "But that isn't any ordinary chopper." Yamcha immediately turned to Puar. "Puar! Whatever you do...keep driving ahead!" Yamcha got up and went into the back.

"Why?" Puar asked, now sterring the vehicle. "What's going on!"

"Something that could be just as worse as Piccolo even..." Yamcha opened the door out the back. As they were quite high into the air, with the entrance to the jet open, the wind was blowing quite hard, having his long hair blow back hard. Yamcha winked at Puar prior to jumping out.

"Yamcha!" Puar yelled.

"Don't look back!" Yamcha screamed at the top of his lungs as he dove out.

Yamcha then went to look down below, hundreds of men out. Yamcha looked a bit harder, spotting some people being forced out the building by men with guns. "What's going on?" Yamcha shot down below, still diving headfirst.

"Alrighty, folks!" More of Capsule Corp's members were being pushed outside their work by force of random soldiers with weapons, pointed at the people. "Line yourselves up in that spot!" One of the soldiers ordered.

The few dozen people working at Capsule Corp did as ordered and each got into one single file line. All of them got on their knees, hands on their laps. Some showed just how frightened they were as others tried to best to hide it. Regardless, all were in a very nasty predicament and knew if they tried something against the ed Ribbon Army, then they'd pay for it dearly.

Violet, a blue-eyed purple hair woman of slender stature with the look of a hardened killer stood alongside Blue, a blonde male with a rather toned body and pretty boy look.

"It's about time we've taken action," Violet said aloud, looking at the inferior soldiers pulling worker after workout out the building.

"Indeed...now we just need to find The Briefs somewhere."

Yamcha landed down in the vicinity without making any type of noise in form of a distraction. He was hiding out behind one of the Red-Ribbon trucks in the very back, where it was only occupied by some soldiers. "There's no telling where she could be right now," Violet said. "It's possible she could be hiding in a bunker of some sort."

Blue chuckled. "Perhaps. Even the lower people of status working under Mrs. Briefs are in good hiding spots. We just need to keep weeding them out."

One of the soldiers in the far back yawned, a bit tired. "Man...we've been out here for too long! I'm starting to get kind of hungry."

The man next to him shook his head. "Look, you knew when you signed up for this job, what it was about. You're just going to have to put up with it." He looked the other way. "We just have to wait...they're going to blow this entire place up pretty soon anyway." The soldier looked back to his left, where his comrade was. "Right?" Upon seeing nobody he was quite confused. He could have sworn that he was just with him not even five seconds ago. It was impossible for anybody to take off with such speed without making a sound. "Hey...where'd you go? You didn't quit on me, did you?"

TAP TAP

"Huh?" Feeling someone tapping his shoulder, he turned around, thinking that it was his comrade who was playing simple tricks on him at the present moment.

The only following thing he saw was completely black. He started to fall on his back, though the scarred martial artist caught him in just a nick of time. Yamcha dragged the man's unconscious body and placed him behind a truck where nobody was to spot him for sure. Hiding behind it he immediately looked ahead, checking what was around him. He looked over all the people that were in his surroundings, observing them. "There are around 300 of these guys..." Yamcha sighed. "If I'm going to play ninja, then this is going to take a while."

Blue checked a watch on his wrist. "Five minutes..." He looked up back towards the entrance of Capsule Corp. "Oh, look at whom we've got here."

"Hm?" Violet up. "Oh..." She smirked upon catching her sights on two familiar faces. "We've got the mother of Bulma and wife of Mr. Briefs." She looked over towards Blue. "So...what should we do?"

Blue grinned. "Bomb the place"

"Like setting a match to an ant pile." Violet looked into the air towards the helicopter. She gave a thumbs up, sending the signal in.

Yamcha had just got done with around a sixth of the total amount of soldiers there. He looked up, spotting one of the most unexpected things yet. "Oh no..." he watched as a bomb was being dropped from the helicopter. If that bomb hit Capsule Corp, the building and everyone in it would be destroyed, totally pulverized. "I can't let that thing hit..." Yamcha cupped his hands together. The scarred fighter had generated a blue light in his hands. "Kame..."

"HEY!" One of the soldiers heard Yamcha begin his chant and turned around. "Who are you?"

A bunch of other soldiers turned around and looked back at Yamcha, spotting the odd one out. "HAME!"

Violet and Blue turned around as well, having heard some of their soldiers speak to a stranger. From afar they spotted this one man charging some attack, a bright blue light in his hands. "Kill the idiot!" Violet ordered her men.

"FIRE!"

The members of the army noticed that Yamcha had absolutely nothing to do with their army, and was in fact, more than likely against it. One person needed to say fire before they all started firing their pistols and automatic weapons.

Yamcha hopped into the air...letting all of the bullets pass through where he was standing before. A lot of the soldiers went on and committed friendly fire thanks to Yamcha. "It's about halfway there!" Yamcha readied his attack and pushed the energy forward. "HAAAA!"

The missile was launched from 2,000 feet in the air. The moment Yamcha launched his Kamehameha it was around five hundred feet, just getting ready to bomb Capsule Corp. Yamcha targeted the missile perfectly and had it come into contact just in time.

BOOM!

The bomb seemed to detonate prematurely. All it needed to do was fall a couple more hundred feet before it came into contact with Capsule Corporation's building.

"NO!" Blue yelled, seeing his plans were getting foiled.

Yamcha had a smirk on his face, still seeing the Capsule Corporation building completely intact. Yamcha hovered in the air, below him hundreds of men giving him the looks of wanting to literally tear his throat out. Yamcha being Yamcha, simply responded with a cheeky grin. Everything else here on out would be a piece of cake for him...not as if it was hard for him in the beginning.

* * *

Elsewhere Piccolo was outside of Chow Castle, the castle in which Piccolo Daiamo got to reside in a couple days prior to being taken out by Kakarot. He just stared at it, memories flooding through his head of having taken over this place at one point. There were barely any traits of a demon left in him...however, his instincts had never left him. Piccolo closed his eyes. He could sense a group of people coming right for him, a couple of thousand. None of what he sensed felt threatening the least to him anyway

"HEY, YOU! You're in the way!" one of the men behind him had yelled. Behind the man was a guy in a tank and someone in control of the turret, ready to fire if necessary

Piccolo turned around, not wanting to be bothered. "So? Go around."

"Heh! You think you're a funny guy, don't you?" the man asked, reaching for his pistol as a sign of a warning.

"No, I'm being quite serious actually," Piccolo responded. "You can go around."

"Hehehe." A truck pulled up to the front of the scene. A door opened, revealing Colonel Silver. He was a tall man with red hair and a trench coat. He was the one in command of everything going on around here. "If you don't want to get hurt, chump then I'd suggest you back off."

"And if I don't?" Piccolo challenged.

Silver pointed in the back of him. "You're keeping 3,500 people behind me waiting. We're on a mission: that mission being to take over this world. And you need to back off. Or else..."

Piccolo grinned. "I assume you must not recognize me with the turban and cloak." He chuckled. "Don't I even look at least remotely familiar, fools?" He knew that his name carried a lot of weight around the world, all of it having to relate with purge carnage. Piccolo Daimao was released, most would only think of him as some monster in a story said through bed times stories. Only really old, seasoned men experienced and lived to tell it.

"What does it matter what you look like? You're going to be our slave anyway. Maybe I'll place you personally as our boot shiner." A couple of soldiers behind him all laughed at it.

Piccolo took off his turban with a smile, revealing his sharp teeth and his green antennas. "Here." He let it drop on the ground before him. "Do I look like anyone?"

It didn't take long for Silver to grasp who this man was. He, like many others, had seen Piccolo on t.v. and knew what he looked like the day Piccolo Daimao announced himself. "N-No way...it's you! We thought you were dead!"

"Long from it," Piccolo responded. Piccolo took genuine pleasure at the look of fear on Silver's face as he had finally caught onto who Piccolo was. He remembered what had transpired a couple of years back, and he recalled all the inhumane things he had done as well. He wanted nothing to do with Piccolo...at all.

Silver chuckled nervously, sweat falling down his face. "Hey, man. Look...we're en route to taking over the world. It's been a long time coming. I'm sure I could put in a word for you where you can have part of this world for yourself as well."

"Sorry...but I'm not into sharing territory. I'm here to take it all back!" Piccolo charged a ball of ki in the palm of his hand. "You can say goodbye, however."

"No! WAIT!" Silver placed his hands out, trying to plead.

Piccolo shook his head and blew them all away, without mercy. Piccolo watched through the bright light he just rendered everyone. Slowly every single one of these people and their weapons began to evaporate. Piccolo could hear the screams, the majority of them begging for mercy with sincerity through the unholy pain they all had to endure as they went through the process of a mighty great and slow death. Piccolo was still the merciless man people knew him to be. All he waited for was Kakarot's return so he could release all his true, raw strength.

* * *

Speaking of Kakarot, he and Raditz stood side by side. Before them was Furo, one of the superior fighters of Planet Anded. The two Saiyan brothers knew what was up. "Now, Kakarot...this fool's battle power is far higher than what we anticipated. It's probably best we fool him and escape the scene."

Kakarot nodded. "Although I find it hard that we're going to leave his sight. Probably best we team up on him."

"Whisper all you want it's not going to help you," Furo called out. "Your actions have passed on far enough! It's now time to pay the price!"

"Pay the price?" Vegeta and Nappa chuckled.

Jolf had just rendered the two higher class Saiyans the same speech, though much calmer than his comrade. "I don't hold back on my word."

Nappa stepped up to the plate, deciding to take on the challenge. "A power-level of six thousand...let's see how long this fight can last." Nappa had a wide grin on his face. "It's been a while since I've had any real fun."

"You'll regret your actions..." Jolf said.

"We shall see..." Nappa got into a fighting stance. "Now come on!"


	16. North-South Fight

Here they were, standing across from one another, yet coming across another opponent, this one stronger than the last. Kakarot and Raditz were both near shoulder to shoulder, getting ready to do whatever possible to overpower this person before them, being Furo. Kakarot could sense the great power coming from this stranger. Neither did he or Raditz would be able to stand up to this without being smart about attacking him.

PIPIPIPI

"Scouter doesn't lie," Raditz confirmed. "I've checked countless times and I continue to get the same reading of 2,000..." The long-haired Saiyan was beginning to grow nervous. Throughout all his travels and conquests, he was yet to face someone who was completely over him in power.

Kakarot forced himself to put out a confident smile, even though if one were to just look at him the man was sweating bullets.

"I've had enough of you two just standing there. Looks like I've got to get things done myself." Furo began to fizz out of sight, starting the battle. Kakarot and Raditz both immediately were on guard, prepared for whatever was to come next. Kakarot was doing his best to sense his opponent, but Furo was far too fast for him as he bounced all around the place. Next to Kakarot, Raditz was left guessing where he could be.

PIPIPIPI

Raditz fell for it and turned around, having gotten a reading that indicated Furo's presence to be a few yards behind him. Kakarot knew it was a bluff and just looked over his shoulders. Raditz formed a ki attack in his hand and launched it away for whom he thought to be Furo. Even though all of what he saw was just a mere illusion. The moment Raditz's ball of energy just morphed through Furo's body, he knew he messed up.

Furo re-appeared behind Raditz and elbowed the long-haired Saiyan dead center in the middle of his back. Kakarot didn't even have to turn around because he had felt the presence of Furo already there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raditz stumbling away. Kakarot immediately tried to shoot up so he could form a good amount of distance between himself and his enemy.

"Where do you think you're going?" Furo reacted quickly and grabbed Kakarot by his boot before the lower-class Saiyan could get remotely far from him. Kakarot sneered and stretched his hand out, his palms slowly beginning to brighten up. Furo was going to attempt to slam Kakarot directly on his back, but the Saiyan blasted Furo dead on.

Even while being hit at near point blank range Furo managed to hold strong onto Kakarot. Furo was quick enough to use his other arm to block his face. Kakarot noted a smirk on his enemy's face as the smoke created by the attack began to fade away. From away Raditz came from Furo's side and rammed his shoulder into Furo's hip. The sudden surprise attack and momentum built up by Raditz was far more than enough to force Furo to be able to let go of Kakarot, stumbling back.

Kakarot span around in the air, landing on one knee. He quickly looked ahead of him, hoping to spot Furo somewhere. "Where'd he go?" Kakarot asked Raditz.

Raditz was on the defensive. "I don't know," Raditz responded with a shrug. In all honesty, Raditz didn't know how he was going to come out on top in this fight.

"I'm right here," Furo said above in the sky. Both Kakarot and Raditz looked up. Furo could be seen, both of his hands out, dark red energy balls being charged. No warning from Furo as they were both fired away, one attack for one enemy each.

Raditz was quick on his feet and hopped into the air. Furo's ball of energy came zooming right down from below, scraping his chest plate as it made its way down. He continued to watch below, the ball hitting the ground and exploding immediately on impact. Furo chuckled and came down at Raditz, elbowing him on the head above. He was sent crash landing into the hard black grass below

Kakarot hopped back, although he was still far too slow. The impact of the blast he just barely missed had sent Kakarot flying back. Kakarot eventually started to skid across the ground below him with his feet deeply planted down as hard as he could. Furo made his way over to Kakarot with blinding speed. Kakarot quickly flipped over and went in an attempt to block his face. Furo did initially have his hand cocked back, although upon quickly noticing Kakarot's try at protecting the facial area he slowly began to settle his fist down.

From Kakarot's point of view, it seemed like Furo was still going to try for a punch. While it was going to hurt, it wasn't going to be as painful for sure. At the last moment, just centimeters shy of physical contact between the two, Furo shot down his fist in an instant. Using his free left hand, he had it wide open. As fast as he could Furo rammed the palm of his hand against Kakarot's middle abdomen region.

This attack had shot down Kakarot's defenses that very second. Even when he tried to hold his ground, Kakarot was forced to move, even if his feet were planted deep into the ground. A line of soil was created by Kakarot thanks to being pushed back. Furo could hear quick winds coming at him. He looked ahead at Kakarot and blasted him. Turning around, Furo elbowed Raditz directly across the cheek.

Raditz growled and punched Furo in the jaw as hard as he could. Raditz had pressed his teeth together, legitimately putting a lot of force into that one single punch. And even still...Furo didn't do as much as budge. Raditz began to wince the moment Furo got a hold of Raditz's wrist. "It's over." He rammed his hard forehead into Raditz's face. "No more innocent lives will be executed by you!" Furo's shout sent Raditz flying back.

"Gragh!" Raditz flipped over. Having to gain control of himself Raditz comfortably made down on his feet. He wiped the blood from his lip using his backhand. "Tch!" Looking behind Furo he noticed that Kakarot was having a hard time standing up. "Come on Kakarot! Get up!"

"Grgh..." Kakarot balled his fists and stood erect. He had obvious scratches and bruises all over, mostly thanks to that attack he just endured from point-blank range. Though by the look of things he wasn't out for the count. Kakarot pounced softly off the ground and started flying right for Furo from behind.

"Let's kill this bastard!" Raditz started running on his feet, going right for Furo as well. He was far deep into battle to simply head off now. He was pissed off and wanted to prove to Furo and himself that he'd be able to come out on top. The help of his brother made him all the more confident.

* * *

"Riya!" Nappa's fist just bumped right up against Jolf's. The two had been going at it for a while and seemed to be virtually even. They both formed disparity and touched down around 10 yards, give or take, away from one another. Nappa snorted and spat down by his foot. "We Saiyans are one of the most endurable species when it comes to battle. Fighting me evenly won't be an advantage for yourself."

"I feel like you're still able to show me more power," Jolf spoke. He had been observing Nappa's fighting the entire time and saw that he wasn't doing as well as he could have. He felt that he wasn't, at least.

Nappa chuckled, a bit amused that this guy could tell. "Indeed I am. But we know you won't be able to handle it."

"Try me," Jolf contested.

Nappa looked back to Vegeta. "He must be joking."

Vegeta looked away from Nappa, taking a quick glance at Jolf. "Judging by his body language he seems quite serious to me, Nappa." Vegeta chuckled. "If he truly wishes to die that quickly, then, by all means, go all out. Remember to remain calm and concentrated."

Nappa nodded. "Of course." The big, bald man slowly rested his shoulders in a relaxed and calmed state. Nappa was concentrating more energy out but tried his best to keep quiet. His mouth was sealed shut, although he could still be heard humming in a way, placing together his energy. From his bald head to his broad shoulders down to the very end of his toes, a vibrant energy began to surround the Saiyan, taking the appearance of a bright, golden glow. The force of his growing power began to impact the ground, causing it to shake violently.

Jolf looked on, very impressed by the power this intruder was emitting. 'He's much stronger than I gave him credit for. Still, no match for me.'

"Someone with a mere power-level of 6,000 won't handle me at all!" Nappa shot over to Jolf, fist cocked back.

Jolf quickly placed his hand right before his face, just barely catching Nappa's fist. The entire time he fought with Nappa he never expected the Saiyan to be so fast when he got serious. "I might have underestimated you," Jolf chuckled, a bit excited.

"Hmp!" Nappa dodged one of Jolf's punches by moving his head to the side. Using his backhand he attempted to strike Jolf. Once more Jolf had to remain on his toes and blocked using his right arm. Nappa growled, trying to push through Jolf's strong defense.

Jolf had a slight smile on his face. "I've been waiting for a fight like this..." Jolf was so attentive to winning the struggle that he didn't notice Nappa's boot coming right for him. Jolf was struck dead in the stomach, being sent down. Jolf slid on the grass, using his hands as friction to slow him down. He could hear Nappa's aura burst since Nappa wasn't letting Jolf rest one bit. Jolf jolted up and blocked Nappa's punch by using his own fist even though he was on one knee.

Both of their punches forced a mini shock wave, but nothing too big. Vegeta observed the fight closely, catching onto Jolf's fighting technique.

Jolf elbowed Nappa in the nose, resisting the bald Saiyan a bit and having him stumble backward. Jolf cocked his leg and went to kick Nappa right in the hip, although he was blocked. Nappa used his free hand and delivered a straight jab onto Jolf's face, sending him sliding through the ground. Nappa raised his right hand, creating a white ball of shocking ki. "Let's see you survive this!"

Jolf formed a ball of ki himself and quickly defended himself. A huge cloud of smoke appeared. Jolf hopped into the air, getting away from the area. Nappa noticed this and looked up as well. The cocky Saiyan grinned. "Taking this back upstairs?" Nappa rocketed through the clouds and far into the sky.

The more altitude these two got into the air the closer they made it to one another. And before anyone would guess, Jolf and Nappa were both going right at it once more, punches and kicks being shared by the both of simultaneously. "Come on!" Nappa egged his opponent towards trying harder.

Jolf remained calm and continued to go back and forth. He made sure to not take any hits at all throughout the entire battle. But on the offensive side of things, he did manage to lay a hit or two on Nappa. Upon realizing this was to go nowhere, Nappa flew backward a bit. "Let's see how tough you really are!" Nappa stared into Jolf's eyes, seeing to have a trick up his sleeve.

Jolf awaited patiently for Nappa's next move; being one hundred percent ready Jolf thought of what could happen. He examined Nappa's movements, which were quite stationary for the moment. Upon hearing something bubbling inside the Saiyan Jolf knew exactly what was transpiring: The Saiyan was building up energy internally just to let it loose from his mouth. Jolf reacted quickly rendered a quick shout, a flash of bright dark ki surrounding him for a brief second.

PIPIPIPI

Vegeta checked his scouter, seeing the man's power suddenly jumping up. What the...his power just jumped right ahead to 10,000..." A massive wave of yellow ki was unleashed from Nappa's mouth, making its journey to Jolf. Using his enhanced reflexes Jolf countered the attack with a simple kiai shout. "!?" Vegeta, watching from below, had taken note of exactly what just happened.

Nappa was chuckling internally to himself, genuinely thinking that he had rid of Jolf with the giant wave of ki he unleashed from the core of his body. "That oughta teach 'em." Nappa wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, thinking himself a job well done. He did indeed enjoy the fight that he had with this character. It had been a while since he got a good workout.

Vegeta still watched from below and knew well that Jolf was still alive, which was something Nappa didn't seem to recognize. Had Nappa knew Jolf was still alive and not blinded by his arrogance, he wouldn't have left himself so open. "Look out you fool!" Vegeta warned Nappa.

"What?" Nappa looked below. "What's the matter Ve-OOF!"

Jolf rammed his two fists atop of Nappa's head, sending the big man crashing down below face first into the ground. Vegeta scoffed, disgusted at Nappa's lack of awareness. "I tried to warn you."

Nappa stuck his big head from under the ground. Looking at him now was now as if looking onto a different person, seeing his face with nothing but veins that appeared as if they were gonna pop at any moment. "Why you..." Nappa turned around, growling. "Now I'm pissed!" He proceeded to look up into the air. Much to his surprise, Jolf was no longer there.

"Over here." Jolf appeared before Nappa.

"You!" Nappa spread his arms out wide, preparing himself to give Jolf a bear hug.

SWOOSH

In just one swift movement, Jolf had his fist brushed up against Nappa's rib cage. It took a few seconds for the punch to truly settle in, however, which caused Nappa to bend over, clutching his stomach. Nearly drooling he was, which Jolf found quite disgusting. Not thinking he'd be able to see any more of this Jolf just cocked his leg back and kicked Nappa directly across the face, sending the Saiyan off his feet and crashing.

Even after taking two good hard hits, which he felt dearly, Nappa got right back up, even angrier than before. "You!" He rubbed his bald head furiously. "I'm going to tear you apart!" He didn't care just how outmatched he was at this moment. He could only think of the embarrassment and how bad it made him feel. He couldn't stand it and had to beat this guy up, someway...somehow

"Nappa," Vegeta softly spoke. Nappa under any normal circumstances would have heard Vegeta perfectly. Although Nappa was seething with anger and didn't hear him, getting ready to continue on with the battle. Vegeta was already impatient enough. "Nappa!" Vegeta barked.

Nappa stopped right in his tracks, having heard his superior. "Huh?" He snapped from livid to a face of slight shock in under a second! Slowly he turned around, nervous on if Vegeta would react to him angrily judging by his angry tone of voice. "Y-yeah?"

"Your playtime has just ended," Vegeta informed his subordinate. "I'll take it from here now on."

Nappa nodded, understanding. If the battle would have gone on any further, it could have been Nappa that ended up defeated or even dead. Leaving everything in the hands of Vegeta would just ensure victory. "Very well." He looked back over to Jolf, now calm and confident again. "Heh. Now your lifespan just plummeted to minutes and ticking. Just know your time of death is to come very soon." Nappa turned around, exiting the battlefield.

Jolf seethed his teeth. 'If this oversized brick is to take orders from this fool, then I know I'm in trouble...' Jolf had his sights eyed on Nappa, who was walking away. 'Before I go I'm taking at least one of you with me...' Jolf stuck his fingers out. His black nails suddenly stretched out, turning into what appeared as black razor claws.

SHTHING!

All of his nails were approaching Nappa from behind. Jolf had hoped that at least one of them were to land, there being that poisoned lied inside all of them. Unfortunately, none of them would touch. A small energy of ki erased them all from sight.

Nappa suddenly turned around, having heard something. "What was that?"

"Don't worry about it," Vegeta spoke. "This fool is mine now."

Jolf got on guard, feeling prepared to take on Vegeta. "I won't go down as easy as you think." He didn't know if he was prepared physically, but mentally...maybe. Regardless of how much stronger this guy may be, he wasn't going to back down and was willing to test himself.

Vegeta didn't respond, albeit the fact he was curious and wanted to put Jolf's statement up to the test. Vegeta fizzled out of sight, to where he wasn't able to being spotted by Jolf at all. Jolf tried to remain stoic, but inside Vegeta's presence just invoked fear into him. He could just tell that Vegeta was in an entirely different league than he was. The near blank emotionless look on Vegeta's face was the only thing that worried him the most out of all at this moment.

"Behind you."

Jolf jerked around, and with true haste. The moment he turned around all he was looking at was the back of Vegeta's head. The Saiyan had his arms folded, seemingly not so much interested in Jolf, even at the beginning of this fight. The moment Jolf got ready to cock his fist back, Vegeta rammed the back of his hand into Jolf's face. Jolf began to back up a bit, his nose starting to leak. Vegeta slowly turned around and walked after Jolf. Jolf had his hands stretched out, still backing up, ready to fire an attack.

Nappa chuckled at how horrendous Jolf was fighting Vegeta. "Look at you now. Scared shitless, ain't ya?"

Jolf was going to start charging an attack, but Vegeta raised two index fingers of his. Using them he shot two holes right through the left palm of Jolf's hand. Reacting to this, Jolf clutched at his left hand. Still, he continued to back up, but Vegeta proceeded to follow. "To hell with this..." Jolf tried for a jab.

Vegeta bobbed his head to the side, easily avoiding a few punches to the face. Vegeta clenched one of his fists and gave a clean shot right at Jolf, knocking even more blood into the air. That one hit was now making Jolf a bit dizzy. But still, he continued to back up. "Grr!" Jolf punched Vegeta right on the cheek. "I'm through playing around!"

Vegeta's cold eyes were locked into Jolf's pupils. "So am I," Vegeta softly whispered, loud enough for Jolf to hear him. A purple light was being emitted below the two of them. Slowly Jolf began to look down. One sudden movement and Jolf jolted. Looking down Vegeta had just pierced Jolf's stomach by releasing a ki attack clean through Jolf's abdomen.

Jolf was now leaking blood, leaving a complete trail of it. But even still, he remained standing, albeit barely. "Looks like you're a man of your word," Vegeta sarcastically complimented. "You are a little hard to bring down aren't you?" Vegeta chuckled as he disappeared.

Jolf continued to back up, his vision very blurry. He wasn't even sure if Vegeta was in front of him or not, nor did he care. He had lost complete filling in his stomach. Pieces of organs inside his body were left hanging out. "But I reckon that is a completely false statement." Vegeta was on the side of Jolf, arms folded. All Vegeta did was slightly stick his feet out. Jolf went down without a doubt due to the fact he didn't even spot Vegeta's foot, so he tripped over it. Letting gravity take its course, Jolf fell right over onto his back, and rather hard. Vegeta looked down at Jolf with complete disgrace to how pathetic he fought. "Such a pity..." Vegeta stuck his hands out, preparing to give the final blow.

Nappa's eyes widened, full of pleasure, witnessing the murder of Jolf himself. The only piece of Jolf left remaining was pieces of his insides Vegeta had blown out just seconds ago. "And that's how we get it done," Nappa chuckled.

Vegeta looked over the battlefield. "I figured the fools here would be worthy of fighting," Vegeta spoke. He then looked over to Nappa. "But it's been noted by the people that did their homework that three of us wouldn't be able to handle this mission at all."

"What are you getting on with?" Nappa asked.

"The fact that there could be people...even stronger." Such an idea may have seemed far-fetched for him, he could only imagine. It had been years since Vegeta came across a true challenge. His power was higher than most, which was why none seemed to stand up to him.

"Seriously...?" Nappa furrowed a brow. He didn't think such a thing would be remotely possible.

Vegeta clicked on his scouter. "Hm...interesting." Vegeta had a smirk on his face.

"What is it?" Nappa asked, seeing something else had caught Vegeta's attention.

Vegeta could feel the powers of both Raditz and Kakarot taking on: this one power of 2,000. He grinned, seeing that they were still alive. It was more than likely that they had been working together to take down their mutual threat. "Looks like Kakarot and Raditz are in quite the predicament."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't we help them out then?" Nappa questioned.

Vegeta began to rub his chin, thinking on it. "Hm..."

* * *

On the other side of things, Raditz found himself to be having trouble. "D-Dammit..." he was completely bruised all over. Raditz looked over to his right, Kakarot barely standing. Kakarot had it the worst. Being the weaker of the two, his power wouldn't stand for him to take such punishment. Pieces of his armor were just broken and lying in different areas of the ground with some of the blood from his face leaking to the black grass.

"We...we have to find a way to distract him and make it to Vegeta and the other guy..." Kakarot clutched his right arm, which almost felt completely numb.

"Kakarot..." Raditz spoke to his brother. "If we require the help of Vegeta and Nappa then they'll see us as useless. Saiyans shouldn't need assistance when fighting!" Raditz sneered. "Which is exactly why this battle is pissing me off..." Raditz hopped into the air. Under usually no circumstances would he allow himself to team up with someone to battle a stronger enemy. But here, Raditz felt like he had no choice, not to mention, he felt much more comfortable fighting alongside with his brother as a unit. "Enough of this!" the long-haired Saiyan growled. "I'm going to end this stupid quarrel right now!"

"Go ahead and try," Furo challenged, mocking Raditz.

"RAHHH!" Raditz shot a thick, long, pink wave of ki Furo's way.

Furo chuckled. "Stupid." Barely using any effort at all, he swatted away Raditz's attack right into the skies of Planet Anded.

"Grrrr!" Raditz's tail was twitching, his lashing from side to side. He was putting everything into near every single attack and yet all of them were futile. And Furo would just laugh in Raditz's face at his failed attempts.

"I can try one thing..." Kakarot clenched his fists, now proceeding to shut his eyes. Due to the great concentration, his fists began to shake. He could sense his arm beginning to have feeling again.

"Your time is up..." Furo looked onto Raditz. "I'm about done with playing the both of you!"

"As am I..." Kakarot's eyes shot open, a fierce look in his eyes. A sudden smirk appeared on his face. "Here's something I've been working on..." Kakarot planted his feet into the ground. "YAHH!" Kakarot started shooting at Furo.

"Eh?" Raditz looked over to the side, seeing his brother coming right for Furo.

Furo was going to finish Raditz off once and for good, however, he was caught off guard too. He spotted Kakarot, although the Saiyan warrior was coming at him far too fast. "How in the?" Furo could only see a blur of Kakarot coming for him. But then he saw a flash of something. Coming from Kakarot was a loud, animal-like roar. 'Is that an ape?'

In just the next few seconds, Kakarot was standing right before Furo, his fists clean through Furo's chest. Furo looked down, in complete awe. Initially, Furo didn't even feel anything. But the more he realized that this was reality as the pain started to kick in subsequent to the momentary numbness. Kakarot reeled his arm back towards him, leaving Furo with a gaping hole through his chest. Kakarot chuckled weakly. "My go to when I've got nothing else on the table."

Furo growled. "Why you..." Blood trickled down his lip.

Raditz was chuckling from behind, proud to see Kakarot got the best of their adversary. "I don't know what you did or how you did it, but good job little brother." Raditz, coming from behind Kakarot, pushed Furo over to the ground. "We can let the fool choke on his own blood here."

Furo wasn't even able to form words. Panicking, his body began to twitch all over. Kakarot and Raditz just watched, till Furo's very last breath. Eventually, he just happened to fall over on his side and finally remain dead.

"Finally..." Raditz sighed, that battle having taken a lot out of him. "We're done with these fools."

"Bravo!" Nappa clapped as he appeared from above. "You two managed to defeat someone stronger than the both of you...even with combined strengths. I must say..." Nappa wiped himself off as soon as he landed. "It's quite a feat...especially for a low-class such as Kakarot..."

"Which brings to question...what exactly did you do?" Vegeta inquired. "You have a mere power of 450 and managed to punch through someone nearly 5 times stronger than you. That's not normal if I would say so myself."

"A personal technique," Kakarot informed Vegeta.

"Hm." Vegeta just acknowledged Kakarot's feat. 'Whatever technique it was...it surely helps him overcome far stronger opponents.' To Vegeta, that was somewhat perturbing. Not for the time being, at least.

PIPIPIPIPIPI

The scouters picked up two high levels of power and started to go crazy.

"Two power-levels coming our way right now..." Raditz called out, reading over them. Seeing the initial numbers, his jaw dropped.

"There's no way..." Kakarot mumbled, feeling the presence of them both.

"16,000...and 35,000..." Vegeta found himself getting quite nervous, but at the same time, excited. "We have a small quantity of guests, but the quality is far beyond what even we can give off."

Just before the four Saiyans appeared Lycan and Kharon. The four Saiyans all looked onto their two guests with a mix of anticipation and worry.

Kharon looked around him, seeing the countless lifeless bodies either piled up or separated, even those with separated limbs lying dozens of yards from their respective bodies. Their dark, beautiful grass tainted with the color of his people's blood. This was truly disappointing for the man, who wasn't ashamed to express his dismay. "My people."

"Did you like the decoration?" Nappa boasted, laughing. "I think we did pretty good."

"The smell of blood and death reeks this entire planet," Lycan said. "All of yours will soon be in the mix of it."

"Hahaha!" Raditz chuckled. "I'm honestly not all worried anymore." The Saiyan looked into the sky, seeing the big round white light of the moon. "The full moon is here..." Raditz made sure to avoid looking at it, even though he could feel the brightness of it. This just made him want to look at it more, the urge attacking him. It was an itch merely waiting to be scratched.

"Which is perfect for us," Kharon said. "The moment it arrives our true powers awaken."

"Is that so?" Kakarot asked. "Ours as well."

"Interesting," Raditz commented, intrigued as to if their transformations would be equal to theirs or not.

"Tch. No matter. None of you will match up to us anyhow. You will all die here," Lycan remarked.

Both Lycan and Kharon's pale skin slowly took form into completely black. The four Saiyans were at a loss to what was going on exactly. The only thing they could see was their red eyes that glowed in the bright night. Nothing could be seen of them as the black grass and dark night filled in so well.

Vegeta grinned. "So this is your form?" He looked into the sky. "Allow us to demonstrate ours."

Vegeta and the other three began to look.

Two species that have their very powers increased by powers of the full moon decide to battle. Who wins this one?


	17. One Sad Day

Mere hours pass since the initial attack of the Red Ribbon army and all hell was broken loose.. The Red Ribbon Army hasn't held anything back and they are each giving their all to be rulers over the Planet Earth. Regions were all being torn down and more. Only those that had martial arts experience knew to defend themselves, and even a good bit of them didn't turn out so lucky.

"You son of a bitch!" Violet yelled. Not only was her and Blue's objective thrown down the gutter, but they lost an exponential amount of men as well. Before her hundreds of her very own men, all down and out for the count. The only remaining ones left was her and Blue.

Yamcha had a smug grin on his face. He didn't think it'd be this easy, taking out top members of the most infamous army in the manner that he did. "I thought of the Red Ribbon Army being one of the most dangerous to exist here on earth...and yet I took nearly an entire army in the blink of an eye."

"Tchi" Blue spat at the ground. "I don't like your cocky attitude."

Violet, seeing that truly was no big deal in the first place, had her look of anger turn into one of a grin. "Those men were just average foot soldiers," Violet said, kicking one of the knocked out soldiers on the hip. Slowly she looked back over to Yamcha. "We're not normal..."

"Oh, right?" Yamcha asked. The former bandit got into a fighting stance from afar. 'They're quite right...' Yamcha spoke in his head. He observed over the two of them. 'They don't seem to be normal...I can't even sense their energies.'

Violet took a gun out of her holster and emptied the clip, all of the bullets directed for the long-haired martial artist. Yamcha didn't have any problems simply dodging all the bullets that she had rendered him. Once the clip touched the ground she went over and tossed the gun to the side, rolling up her purple long sleeve shirt. "Truly...you don't know who you're messing with." She started to crack her knuckles. "Only a fool would dare try to face us now."

Yamcha didn't care in the slightest. He made sure to prepare himself for moments like these. "Ready when you are..." Yamcha called out.

Violet glared at Yamcha and his stupid cheeky smile. Blue crossed his arms, hoping to be somewhat entertained as he was to spectate the fight. "This should be fun to watch...just for a little."

Complete silence. Violet stood tall, leaving all kinds of openings. Yamcha studied her moments, his eyes not leaving her for a simple second. 'She's idle...' Yamcha wanted to laugh out loud but stifled his impulsive reaction. "Just like all girls...wanting the guy to initiate first, huh?" Yamcha made the first move and shot into the air.

Violet looked up above, watching Yamcha continue to elevate himself into the air. She noted the sun, which wasn't as bright on any regular day, just began to set. She waited until Yamcha's head started to block the sun so she could get an opening. "Perfect..." Violet nearly purred.

Yamcha was up above, still looking down. "Let's see if she takes the bait..." He cupped his hands together in preparation to use the same attacked he unleashed to destroy the bomb just moments prior. "Kame..." the blue ball of energy was starting to generate, the sound coming in. "Hame..." and the color started to come out, forming itself into a blue orb.

"Kept your eyes peeled and still didn't see me disappear did you?"

"Wait...wha?" Yamcha looked up, his hands still creating ki. "How!" The sun behind Violet was shining too bright, to where Yamcha wasn't even able to see her next movement.

Quickly Yamcha canceled the attack he was preparing, following up by trying to move out of the way. Although Violet still managed to strike him with an elbow right to the scarred fighter's rotator cuff. Yamcha felt a great impact and just immediately after he found himself involuntarily shooting down towards the ground as fast as a shooting star.

Yamcha put enough effort to the point where he landed on his feet safely. Looking into the skies he spotted Violet just hovering up there, arms folded. "I...I didn't even sense her right next to me...!" Yamcha stood erect, much more worried than he was once he entered the danger zone. "Tch." He rubbed his shoulder, which he felt a bit of pain. "No matter. I'm going to end this quickly." Yamcha shot right back into the air, his target being the violet haired woman.

Violet blocked a clawed strike using her elbow from Yamcha. The two remained still for a moment, a mini struggle going on. "I didn't think I'd have to actually try against you." Yamcha bluffed Violet by moving his left knee forward. While observing her movements and noticing that Violet fell for the fake out, Yamcha took this opportunity and decked her across the cheek using his left fist.

Violet budged a bit, but still took the hit like a champ. She forced Yamcha's left arm down with a shove and slapped him dead center in the face with her palm. Yamcha hastily went to the defensive and blocked a kick coming right for his hip by using his left knee. Yamcha formed more distance by flying backward, allowing Violet to follow.

General Blue pulled out a pocket watch and looked at the time. "Hm." He watched as the watch ticked, seeing that it was just a matter of time before they had to carry on with other business. He looked back up. "We don't have much time left! Hurry it up!"

Violet glanced down towards Blue. "Understood!"

Not catching Yamcha coming right for her, Violet paid the price. "ROGAFUFUKEN!" Yamcha came at her far faster than he had been performing the entire fight, taking the woman by surprise. A great wolf like howl was emitted from the young fighter's vocal chords as he inched closer towards Violet.

Violet wasn't fast enough to block Yamcha's hit and was struck across the face. And not even a second after Yamcha was delivering a myriad of claw like strikes to the face, going at her relentlessly. "OWOOOO!" Yamcha howled once more before he sent Violet flying through the air with a double claw strike directly to the stomach. As she flew away Yamcha started to charge yet attack, hoping this would end his first bout. "This should get rid of you quickly! SOKIDAN Go!"

Violet looked ahead of herself as she continued to fly away from Yamcha. She took a look at her hands, then glanced back at Yamcha's attack, which he was still charging. "Heh." Violet quickly took off the glove of her right hand, there appearing to be an item pressed right in her hand. Once the glove was removed she looked up once more, seeing the attack was coming right for her.

Immediately Violet came to a stop through the air, regaining control of her body. She stuck her hands out, awaiting for Yamcha's attack to near her. She let the attack enter the round, colored object in her hands with satisfaction. As the energy entered her she felt a great sensation all over, being able to feel her power rising greatly by the second.

"W-What is she doing?" Yamcha looked on, bewildered. Surely an impact such as that wasn't meant to take place due to his power attack.

Violet grinned. "Thanks for the energy, chump." She used her other hand and fired a ki attack right for her opponent that seemed to rival her earlier. Yamcha's eyes were far too slow and he paid for it dearly. Violet's violet ki attack hit Yamcha dead in the chest. Yamcha expected it to go straight through, but instead, it stayed against his chest and just rolled there, going at hundreds of miles per hour. Yamcha could feel his chest heating up, burning as his clothes started to fall off piece by piece. This elicited a bit of sounds of pain to come from Yamcha's mouth.

"Damn you...!" Yamcha was sweating profusely, not only due to the heat but due to how much stronger this opponent was than he. Quickly Yamcha formed a small ki blast in his hand and shot the ball against his chest away. Well, he didn't do it easily. Yamcha struggled for a moment, grinding his teeth together in an effort of defending himself. Violet just watched from afar, grinning ear to ear.

"YAH!" Yamcha finally managed to redirect the ball of ki down below him, where hundreds of soliders all lied unconscious. Upon realizing what he had just done, his mouth moved, but with no audible. 'Oh, shit...' The man had no intentions to kill any of the unconscious soldiers on the ground. He was done with that and threw such immoral things away the moment he titled himself as pupil of Muten Roshi.

Blue stood below, all nonchalant about the piles of dead bodies suddenly disintegrating at once. He, in fact, found it much more refreshing.

Yamcha's gigantic eyes were so fixated on the countless lives being taken below him that he didn't realize the threat that stood behind him. It had been years since he was the cause of the death of an innocent person-ANY person for that matter. He was so caught up that he was placed in a trap. "OMFHGH!"

Blue had Yamcha in a hold, grinning. He was quick enough to place both of Yamcha's hands in a lock behind his back, his other hand in front of Yamcha, directly on his chest where he placed pressure to keep his enemy still. "Say goodnight..." Blue whispered. The blonde haired soldier had his hardened hands slowly creep up to Yamcha's chest, his fingers nearing his throat in a walking motion. Yamcha knew whatever was coming had to be no bueno. The scarred martial artist did his best to release himself from the hold, though to no avail. Blue had his right hand across his entire mouth, muffling the sounds of his yells.

Slowly he could feel the energy within his body being sucked right out of him. He tried to make noise, move, kick his feet, everything in the book. But the more he tried the more Blue just simply applied more pressure to have Yamcha remain idle. As mere seconds passed, the paler Yamcha's skin was beginning to get. Blue chuckled. "Oh my..."

"What's up?" Violet asked. "Is he getting cold?"

"Very..." Blue responded, chuckling. "It's okay, little one...you'll rest easy in just a few more seconds." He and Violet chuckled as Yamcha didn't seem to be left with anything to spare as far as life itself went.

Yamcha started to feel his eyes getting heavier, barely being able to keep them open. A deep sense of nausea overwhelmed him and he felt entirely too weak to even remove his arms to try and escape. Any effort now would be totally fruitless. The only thing he could do was accept his fate...and so he did. He finally closed his eyes and let death overtake him. Violet noted the blank, pale expression on his face, one of an empty presence. "I think he's done..." Violet said.

"Right...I can't feel much more energy coming from him." Blue removed his hand from Yamcha's mouth and simply pushed him against his back, letting the brave martial artist fall to the ground full of debris. The two shook their heads, not believing that someone would truly consider themselves powerful enough to be able to take on former humans now converted androids with the capabilities to suck the life right out of any living organism, regardless it be human or something else. Both Violet and Blue chuckled as Yamcha just fell flat on his face.

"We've wasted far too much time," Blue told Violet, checking his pocket watch once more. "We should have gotten the Briefs back at headquarters by now."

"So what do we do?" Violet asked Blue. She looked over to Capsule Corp. "Should we just blow it up?" They had already failed their plan, so she didn't see the harm in simply blowing the place up.

"We should wait for more orders from Red," Blue replied. "Not to mention it'll just be a waste of energy. We need as much as we can get and preserve."

"Right." Violet nodded in agreement, seeing her General's point of view. "Let's go."

The two, not losing any more time, both took off into the air. Down below...it seemed like a near wasteland next to Capsule Corp. What used to have streets and buildings was changed into rubble and debris. Luckily Capsule Corp did manage to have the technology to protect the main building itself, having a force field surround it. Even if the bomb managed to make an impact, there would have been no harm done to the building.

Yamcha was lied down, almost as pale as a man who has been dead for a few days. No movement in his body, no breathing, nada. He was gone.

"YAMCHA!" Bulma came out, nearly flying to him, as fast as she was running. Tears flew passed her, as she ran. Making it just by Yamcha's body she fell right over on her knees. "Yamcha..." One touch towards his arm and Bulma flinched, just from how cold it was. Any fool with half a brain would know that Yamcha is long gone. If he truly was alive, Yamcha would have gotten up the instant he heard Bulma's voice.

Bulma's mother and father stood in the back, holding one another tightly. They and a few others just barely managed to get out of Yamcha's attack, which unintentionally killed many. He and Panchy shared an empathetic expression on their face, watching their daughter mourn her loved one. The sun was now gone, the night beginning to take over.

* * *

Much time had passed, and yet nobody else has entered the near remote area Ox lived. The dazzling stars were beginning to show themselves and Ox remained in the same spot, next to his mother's body. During the time he let the most of his tears out, now sniffing his snotty nose. Even while being a strong little boy, his mental state as a four-year-old wasn't enough to take this on.

"A misfortune, I see..." a voice said from behind.

Ox remained still, not turning around. He could hear the man speaking behind him, but he paid him no mind. He stood in his comfort zone, directly next to his dead mother. "Turn around when I speak to you...Son of Kakarot." Ox's tail twitched at the mentioning of his father's name. Slowly he began to turn around. The man behind him grinned. "Good...face me."

Ox had his eyes directed towards the ground as he turned around, not wanting to show his face full of tears, with nearly complete red eyes. From below he noticed the man standing before him was wearing black boots. The higher he looked up, the more he took in descriptions. His long legs fit in black jeans, going further up and seeing a big tall, muscular man with a green jacket. He had orange hair, his hair style nearly taking the appearance of a mohawk.

The man had a warm smile, one of a person who seemed that he would truly help those in need.

The man saw Ox's red face. "Lost someone dearly, huh?" Ox remained quiet, but he nodded in response. The man sighed. "Don't worry." He slowly reached for the side of his waist, pulling out a gun from a holster. "You're going to rejoice soon, I promise kid." Ox looked back down, listening to the words he was being told. "I won't try to give you as many bullet holes as your friend has here, but I need to have some fun, right?"

Ox recalled those moments...of his mother getting shot at. To stare helplessly as your mother is to be brutally murdered began to anger the little boy. The man pointing the gun at Ox's head didn't even notice the heavy breathing coming from the four-year-old. "You two can cry together in heaven."

BANG!

The bullet came directly at Ox, who simply stared at it. For him, it felt like the bullet was nearing him at slow motion. The kid had a lot of time to react and all he could think about was the sound being made immediately after this man happened to pull the trigger. Just hearing another one of those gunshots...just triggered the kid. Ox rammed into his enemy and rammed his small shoulders directly against the man's chest, breaking something as a crack could be heard.

Ox landed on his feet, his nose flaring. The man who just tried to kill him earlier was lying on his stomach, clutching his chest dearly. He stared at the kid, fear beginning. Ox was growling, his tail lashing side to side furiously. He took a glance at the man's shoulder and noticed a RR symbol. Just like the others who attacked them, they had the same insignia as well. At this very moment, he realized who his targets were.

"I..." Ox shivered, just trying to speak. So much rage bubbled up inside the only way he could release it all out was by screaming. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" A great bright red aura surrounded him. Ox screamed into the skies, animals from miles away from being able to hear him from afar.

The man started to back up, eyes wide. He felt a great amount of heat coming from the boy and didn't like it at all. Ox's sheer power had blown away his mother who lied away from him. Chi-Chi's body started to roll over due to the strong winds being produced from Ox's strong winds.

"Look, kid...it doesn't have to be like this." He was instantly beginning to regret his decision coming here. It had been a while since they heard a signal coming from General White, so he was demanded to clean up the mess. Had he known just what he was getting into, he wouldn't have taken the demand in the first place.

Ox's entire thought of rationale and logic went right through the window. Now he had his mind set on one thing and one thing only. He charged a ki attack on his hands. Ox didn't force himself to do this but rather did this on impulse. He showed no hesitation in killing off the man who tried to kill him.

The man let out a painful scream as the unendurable heat of energy neared his body. His screams of agony didn't last long as the attack suddenly vanished, just did his pleading yells.

"We have people searching practically every corner of this planet..."

Those words replayed through his head like a broken record. This was what General White had told him a while ago. If this statement was true, then he'd be able to find nearly every member of the Red Ribbon Army himself. Now having his mind set on one particular goal, Ox just took off into the air.

On a far distant planet a familiar relative found himself having a little bit of trouble himself.

Under the beautiful, bright rays of the moonlight in Planet Anded, four apes rampaged through this nearly uninhabited world, fighting against two rather strong and abnormal enemies.

* * *

Vegeta chuckled, his deep voice being rather menacing. "Where do you fools think you're going?"

Lycan barely missed a swing coming from Vegeta's giant arm and hopped right off his hairy arms away from him, landing on Nappa's large furry arms. running directly towards the beast. Lycan cocked back his black fist, aiming for his snout.

"Coming for me, are you?" Nappa asked. The giant ape cocked his fist back as well. If this was to hit Lycan full force, then the fool would stand absolutely no chance against him.

The two had locked onto one another that moment, forming a booming shock wave that spread a portion way of the planet. They were both at a complete stalemate.

Raditz fired energy beams for Kharon, whom was rather versatile in the air, disregarding his gigantic size. A Saiyan's power only managed to increase ten-fold following their transformation under the full moon. Raditz, having a power of around 1,200-1,500, was far too weak and found himself having major trouble. "GRAGHH!" the frustrated Raditz growled. He had missed yet another strike, being too slow for his opponent. "Stay still you insect!" Raditz hopped from the ground, his one hundred foot self going right for Kharon.

Kharon immediately turned around and kicked Raditz onto his large snout, sending the rampaging ape flying back a bit. Kakarot, whom was coming for Kharon as well, shot above into the air, just missing his brother landing hard on the ground, nearly shaking the entire planet. Kakarot formed a ki attack in his big hands and fired one directly for Kharon, who just smacked it away effortlessly.

"Hahaha!" Kakarot laughed, going to punch Kharon dead on. Kakarot's giant fist hit Kharon's dark body, a large sound being able to be heard by everyone else. Kharon didn't do as much as budge. He raised his hand, touching Kakarot's fist. "Gr..." The lower class warrior found himself struggling greatly against Kharon's power.

Kharon removed Kakarot's giant fist away and simply flicked him across the face with his finger. Kakarot was sent sliding away. Raditz came from above, his giant fists raised. Kharon was far too quick and moved out of the way, letting Raditz's monstrous fists smash into the ground. Turning around, Kharon spotted Vegeta coming right for him. He placed his arms before his face, defending himself against a punch from Vegeta. Both of these two found themselves struggling.

Vegeta tried to use his tail to knock Kharon down, but Kharon saw this coming and sky rocketed into the air. Vegeta chuckled, his red eyes looking right up for Kharon. The saiyan prince shot up into the air, following his opponent.

Nappa found himself nearly on par with Lycan, the king of Planet Anded. Lycan was obviously a brave one, going blow to blow with someone many times his size. The two spread their fists out and clashed both of them against one another. Nappa opened his mouth wide, showing lines of saliva from inside his mouth, as well as his sharp fangs that lied inside.

A ball of ki formed inside and was ready to be released. Lycan disappeared out of sight, letting the giant ball of energy go elsewhere. Lycan shot up into the air, far above Nappa's head and came back down and slamming the tip of his foot against Nappa's dome.

Nappa was forced to crouch a little, though maintaining his balance, he stood right back up. Nappa went to clap his hands together in hopes of squishing Lycan like the bug he currently appeared. Lycan maneuvered out of there and came before Nappa and re-directed himself, flying directly at the ape's face. With one uppercut Lycan managed to send Nappa off his big feet and onto his back.

Kharon suddenly appeared just by Lycan's side, not seeming tired in the least. The big beasts would wear out any other adversaries, but Kharon and Lycan seemed to be holding themselves fairly well against four hundred foot rampaging primates. "No need to worry now," Kharon informed Lycan. "The morphosized are on their way."

Lycan grinned. "Good. We could use their help."

Vegeta remained in the air. "Is this all you got? At this rate, you'll all be dead within the next five minutes!"

Nappa was back on his feet, wiping blood that actually came from his nose. Kakarot and Raditz stood near side by side, their snouts flaring. The two brothers were the only ones out of the quad that were getting a bit tired. Raditz had gotten beaten on a bit and Kakarot could feel himself not being able to keep up much longer. All of them had to end the battle...or else.

"We have reinforcements!" Lycan shouted. He and Kharon fired multiple ki attacks towards the ground while redirecting themselves down as well. A huge amount of smoke was formed, not being able to see their black bodies, which blended in very well.

The Saiyans were all growling, all except Kakarot. "Where'd those fools go?" Nappa asked, his head turning left and right constantly.

"Shit!" Nappa yelled angrily. "I hate not having my god damn scouter."

Kakarot could feel their powers and turned right around himself. "Get ready to di-" Before he could try for an attack, he was knocked down off his feet. Kakarot stumbled back a bit but maintained balance. The Saiyan was a little pissed now, having been taken off guard like that. "Who was that!?"

"Behind you..." Raditz told Kakarot.

"Hm?" Kakarot began to turn around. Before them were hundreds of people that took the same exact form as everyone.

"What is this?" Nappa asked, looking at all these individuals before them.

"Their reinforcements," Vegeta answered, a bit anxious as his comrades.

Every one of these people was of female, male, young, old, etc. They each came in all shapes and sizes...ready to die protecting their world.

They were in long lines, up and below one another. It seemed like an endless amount of these people were ready to fight and protect their people. Kharon and Lycan both came out of nowhere, entering in the lines. Nappa was a bit agitated, not being able to tell none of them apart as they all looked alike, besides a few different sizes.

Slowly they all began to mix in together, all getting in one single file line. Vegeta was on his toes. "Be on the lookout. The two could be anyone of them." The main people he worried about was Kharon and Lycan, of course. They were the strongest of them all and placed themselves in a single file line.

Raditz was a bit nervous, facing all these different types of enemies. Never before in their travels have the saiyans been as pushed as they have been now. This was entirely new for Raditz, Vegeta, and Nappa.

Kakarot continued to sense their ki. He, like Vegeta, was the one "I got them!" Kakarot shot into the air, his mouth wide. A purple attack came right out, going into the exact middle section of the line, where Lycan and Kharon both were.

Immediately, everyone, the entire race split up, all going entirely over the place. All of them split into different directions at once, making sure to lead the heads of their enemies in separate angles.

Vegeta, not falling for such antics, rushed in at multiples of them, his fist cocked back. One punch and he killed well over a dozen with ease. He lashed his tail to the side, making sure to strike a couple of others as well. The ones who survived the strike from Vegeta all died as soon as they came into impact on the ground. Nappa, seeing all the bloodshed, was getting a bit excited. "BRING IT ON!" The big saiyan took the initiative and went to take on a group of people as well.

Raditz let everyone come to him, willing to take up a challenge. A few hundred all teamed up on him, which gave him a lot of trouble. Raditz in his Oozaru form was quick, but so many coming at him at once was quite troublesome. Raditz swung all around, taking out those he could, only able to swipe out some in the process.

Kakarot was in the deepest trouble, being the weakest of the four Saiyans. "Gragh!" And it seemed the inhabitants were able to sense it as well since These countless people were attacking him head-on. Him being the weakest of the group would, of course, have the most trouble. Kakarot was rendered a large uppercut to his snout, which nearly took him off his feet. Another one of the morphosized inhabitants rammed their foot into the center of his large stomach, actually forcing a slight crack in his armor. Kakarot snarled, having felt he endured enough humiliation. "Enough..." The Saiyan charged two large balls of ki in his hands and launched them full force with as much strength as he could possibly muster. He managed to get a good number of enemies, doing away with the lot of them without a problem.

Nappa was taking these fools on no problem. He and Vegeta didn't find any troubles, blazing their way through the weaklings like easy weed.

Lycan and Kharon watched from afar, observing just how much of a ruckus Nappa and Vegeta were causing. "Those two..." "We have to take them out while we can." If they were to rid of the biggest threats, then they would have to be their main objectives: those being the two strongest.

Lycan nodded. "Then so be it."

The two strongest of Planet Anded jumped right into the fray, now knowing what they needed to do.

Nappa noticed a new enemy coming right for him and stopped fighting the others for a brief moment, seeing Lycan wanted some more. "Another victim." He grinned as he fired a blast directly at him. Lycan managed to simply sway the attack away, thanks to Nappa underestimating him and thinking he was just another weakling. Kharon punched Nappa across the face, having Nappa lose his balance. "ALL HEAD ON!" Lycan yelled.

Those attacking Nappa all generated a ki attack and prepared to blast him head on. Although they weren't the only one. Lycan formed a grey ki of energy in the palm of his hands. With the help of his people, the chances of Nappa surviving this attack just got a whole lot dimmer. The man grinned. "Let's see you have at this...YAKANOSHI!"

"RAGH!" The forceful impact even accomplished to knock such a durable beast off its feet and send it sliding through the black grass below. Lycan could only hope that the beast would remain still, dead.

Vegeta wasn't trying with his targets, in fact showing a complete lack of interest. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that one sudden being coming right for him out of all a sudden. Vegeta took note this had to be Kharon and prepared himself for this. Vegeta clenched his fist, squishing some people he had in his hands. "GRAGH!" Vegeta charged a barrier around him, disintegrating all those around him.

Kharon came to a halt, the horrible sight of his people being burnt to ashes having brought his guard down momentarily. "Damn..." Kharon raised both of his hands into the sky, forming grey energy attacks. He placed those two together, stretching his arms out. "SAIGONOYAKENKOGEKI!"

Vegeta's barrier had just gone out that moment. Having no choice but to defend himself, Vegeta put his two arms up. The Saiyan awaited Kharon's attack. Once it did, a bright light followed after.

Everyone else that was fighting all suddenly stopped, just to look at what took place. The biggest explosion yet to take place and all that seemed to remain was a cloud of smoke that could cover a dwarf planet. Kakarot took this to his advantage and charged two balls of energy in his hand, as well as firing away a wave of ki towards his enemies. Having caught them all off guard, Kakarot took advantage of all the ones with their guards dropped and had them drop dead instantly. Never before had he been in such a situation before. And even though he seemed to be the one having the most trouble, Kakarot was excited...for the first time in years.

He felt his confidence go up and was prepared to take on more he considered an enemy. "Now onto the ne-!" He pausedKakarot felt a great pain enter his body. Looking slowly down at his body, he noticed a small hole in his left breast. Patches of his fur fell down past his armor, as well did a lot of blood. Kakarot was wide eyed...shocked. But not only was he shocked, he was furious.

"GRAGHHHHH!" Kakarot beat his chest like an animal gone berserk. And not thinking, this added even more pain. His actions showed he couldn't give not one shit. The angry beast turned around, steam egressing from his snout due to his heavy puffing. "You...WILL PAY!" Showing no mercy, he dashed right for the one to fire at him. He didn't care about the blood loss, though all he wanted at the current moment was revenge. He saw nothing but red.

The female that caused the hole to shoot through Kakarot's body wasn't quick enough to protect herself and was taken out in the blink of an eye. Kakarot had smashed her using the palm of his hand, slamming her right into the ground. Raising his foot he stomped blood on her body and let out a ringing growl, into the skies of Planet Anded. "Grugh..." Kakarot touched at his chest, the pain finally getting to him. All of that extra business made him lose more blood at an even faster rate and took an effect on him.

Lycan chuckled, seeing that one of them was taken down. "That should have him done for...damn ape." Even if he was the weakest one, he still weakened the group, even if it was just by a little bit.

"PAY ATTENTION FOOL!" Raditz yelled behind Lycan. Lycan had dropped his guard completely and suffered the consequences, having Raditz's hand smack him dead on. The force of Raditz' smack had Lycan sent crashing into the ground below.

As Lycan was surfing through the air, he spotted a big beast above him coming down at super quick speeds. He could hear .\his heart racing upon realizing who that was...Nappa.

While pieces of his armor were gone, Nappa was alive and well...ok not well, but he sure as hell was quite angry. Not holding anything back Nappa rammed his foot against Lycan's chest. Lycan's back hit hard on the ground. The durable king made an effort to stand up, though Nappa's boot came crashing down onto his legs.

Kharon was a bit worried about Lycan but knew he had to focus on his opposing fighter. Turning around Kharon was getting ready to face Vegeta. As soon as he was now ready to enter battle mode once more, a flaming ki attack came right at him. Kharon just moved his head to the side, having the attack graze his cheek.

Vegeta came from the cloud of smoke that was still visible, but obviously a bit injured. He came from a huge crater, punching Kharon dead on. "I'm ending this now!" Vegeta yelled. The saiyan pulled his hands back, charging a great purple energy in his hand.

Nappa growled, still trying to squash Lycan. "Damn you!" Nappa growled. "Just accept your fate, already!"

"I've got this bastard!" Raditz had his two big hands above his head. "Get off him when I say so!" The saiyan fired his attack right for Nappa's boot that was above Lycan. Raditz waited a little bit. "NOWWW!"

Nappa did so and hopped away immediately. Lycan watched as Raditz's attack came for him, at blinding speeds. "HERE'S MINE!" Nappa shouted, accompanying Raditz with an attack of his own, which came from his mouth.

Lycan quickly glanced towards the two attacks. "Oh shi-!"

BOOOOOM!

The king was no more.

Kharon found himself struggling against Vegeta's attack, the great Garlic Ho. "You...!" Kharon growled. "I can't lose to you...!" The man had the existence of his very own people on the line. If he was to fail, then who could step in and save their people? Nobody else for sure as hell would as he was the only option left. Without him, there was nobody.

Vegeta chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint then." This entire struggle he and Kharon had been into was merely a test, for the latter of course.

Kharon's eyes were wide, realizing another wave of ki was coming right for him. Kharon's defense had shut down and he was engulfed by the attack. For miles and miles, Kharon was sent back. The raging fire being produced by Vegeta's wave of ki began to become a bit overwhelming for Kharon, tearing at his clothes bit by bit, eventually going up to his skin...inflaming his internal organs. His screams of agony could even be heard from well over 20,000 feet in the air. Vegeta had a little chuckle at this fact. His greatest adversary yet and he managed to come on top.

Around them, all the Saiyans were surrounded by dead bodies, but mostly being made up of ashes and blood everywhere, as well as the detached limbs of various individuals. "I guess we don't have to go out and search for the rest," Raditz chuckled.

Nappa laughed in response, the comment also getting a little snicker from Vegeta as well. "I'm tired of being in this form," Vegeta commented. The giant saiyan looked up above him, looking directly at the moon. "It was fun while it lasted."

Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz all took a shot at the moon. They watched the amazing fireworks as the moon blew up to pieces. Now almost everything was pitch black. Slowly but surely the four saiyans each converted back into their normal forms.

Nappa stretched out a bit as he got back into his normal self, as well as Raditz. "We should definitely be getting a large bundle after we've sold this planet."

"Indeed," Vegeta said, looking right past Nappa.

Raditz caught attention to Vegeta's eyes. "Something the matter?"

"Kakarot is what's the matter with me," Vegeta remarked, pointing behind the other two Saiyans.

Both Raditz and Nappa looked behind them, spotting Kakarot from afar. Kakarot was on his knees. The lower-class Saiyan's knees were wobbling, he barely having any control of standing up on his two feet. The substantial amount of blood loss had got him well, especially since he reverted back to his normal form.

"Kakarot...what the hell's wrong with you? Stand straight!" Raditz fussed at his brother, hoping that he'd get the memo.

But Kakarot couldn't, even if he wanted to badly, he just couldn't. He touched the hole through his chest and eventually just fell over on his face, it pressed against the black grass. As he was face down on the ground it became apparent that Kakarot wasn't in the best condition. He didn't even look like he'd be capable of picking himself back up.

"Kakarot!" With a bit of concern, the older sibling ran over to his little brother. He kneeled down before Kakarot. Seeing him in such pathetic condition made him want to vomit. Never before had he seen a fellow Saiyan look so horrible-all the more worse that it had to be his brother of all people.

"I don't think he looks too good," Nappa said, pointing out the obvious. He looked a bit concerned, much like Raditz. This was Kakarot's first day back and here he was, lying in his ever-increasing blood.

"We see that," Vegeta said, not in the least bit impressed. The saiyan prince folded his arms and slowly walked his way over towards Kakarot and Raditz. He could only wonder what more he could have possibly expected from a low-level of such pathetic caliber as Kakarot's.

Raditz was crouched down, facing his brother. "Kakarot. You have to get up." Feeling the presence of Vegeta towering over his soldier, Raditz was beginning to get desperate. Either his brother was to push through the pain and get up or else. He truly dind't want the latter, secretly hoping Kakarot would find the innate strength to keep trucking on.

Nappa followed behind Vegeta, wanting to get a close up as well. Once Vegeta came to a stop, able to see Kakarot's face clearly. And it didn't look anything nice. There were no scratches or bruises on his face, though just blood, pure blood. He looked absolutely miserable, not something a Saiyan was meant to look like on the battlefield. "I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but Judging by that hole he has, he doesn't seem to be quite able to get up. If he had lost it mid-battle, then surely by now he's lost far too much blood.

Kakarot moaned in pain. Raditz noted that Vegeta was just itching to eliminate Kakarot on the spot. "Kakarot...!" Raditz nearly barked into his brother's ear. "Get the hell up right now...or you'll truly be dead. A warrior unfit for battle isn't the type we need in this business."

Kakarot slowly placed his hands on the ground. Putting in a huge amount of effort he went to lift himself up, shaking greatly. There was so much tension he felt it was impossible. Kakarot, however, did manage to get up...and roll over on his back.

"Pant...Pant...Pant..." Kakarot shook his head, panting heavily. "I can't."

Raditz simply closed his eyes as he shook his head, full of disenchantment. He stood up, looking down at his brother. "Any other saiyan would have survived a mission such as this one," Raditz remarked. Even if Kakarot was as weak as he was, there were no means for him to let his guard down. By Saiyan standards, Kakarot would be one of the very few to be placed in the forlorn category. And to Raditz, that was a mere disgrace.

"I don't think he was truly meant for battle," Nappa commented. "We probably should have never bothered recruiting him in the first place."

"Just like some Saiyans back in the day," Vegeta said, looking over to Nappa with a small chuckle. All of those Saiyans that weren't cut out for fighting were usually the ones completely at the bottom of the barrel when it came to physical prowess. They usually were ones that tended to people and worked in the meat distributor or other small organizations to help the real warriors around.

Nappa grinned. "Right. Like Raditz's mother. She wasn't cut out to be a fighter, no? That's what I heard."

"That's true," Raditz responded a bit taken aback that a Saiyan like Nappa would even know of such a thing about his mother, who was indeed a low-class. "It seems like more of my mothers' genes was spread onto him."

"Then he's worthless," Vegeta concluded, staring at Kakarot.

"How can one look like one of the most respected soldiers, that being my father, and not live up to his image." Kakarot looked up, breathing heavily still. Raditz stared at him, with a complete lack of emotion, as if he had never known him. "You've proven yourself a degradation to our family and a complete chagrin of our entire race." He spat at Kakarot's foot. "And most of all...you don't deserve to be my brother..." Raditz turned around and walked away, not even looking back. Slowly he ascended himself off the ground. "I'll be attending to my space pod. Take care of this clown quickly. I don't want to wait for ever."

Nappa was kind of confused, ready to buck at Raditz. "Who the hell said he could start giving us orders...?" he asked Vegeta. Well, looking onto Vegeta it became quite obvious that he didn't really care. Just by seeing the look on Vegeta's eyes, he could tell he was definitely onto something else.

"Very well," Vegeta said, smirking. Deciding to do what Raditz said, he was getting ready to take care of the trash.

"No..." Kakarot shook his head. From afar he watched Raditz going, not even turning back. "Don't...g-go...!" Kakarot weakly spoke, his lips shivering. Sudden flashbacks came through. Kakarot had his eyes closed for a brief moment. Remembering the time he was sent off to earth, alone...to eventually finding another family...who ostracized him...to a man he thought actually cared but didn't see more than just another fighter.

And most of all his wife and son...he needed to see them again.

Kakarot managed to raise himself up, his forearms on the ground, head just barely raised, and also throbbing in pain. "DON'T GO!" he yelled, hoping his older brother would be able to hear his words

However, Raditz was nowhere to be seen. Kakarot's brother had ignored his yells for help and just left off to retrieve his pod. The only two faces before him were Vegeta and Nappa. Nappa didn't show any happy nor sad emotion, but he was disappointed that one of their own had to be dispatched. Vegeta, however, was smiling like the devil himself. Vegeta had his index finger pointed right for Kakarot...a bright pink beam beginning to show. "Say hello to my father, your king." Vegeta chuckled as he sent his beam piercing right through Kakarot's other breastplate.

Kakarot gasped, searching for air. His hearing started to become empty, tuning out everything around him, especially the sadistic laughter coming from Vegeta, whom seemed to take true enjoyment in killing of Kakarot.

Vegeta just watched on, waiting for the moment. Just then Kakarot's head jerked up, a reaction of him spitting up a great amount of blood before the back of his head crashed back into the ground. The lower class saiyan's pupils were shaking, his life energy fading by the second. He had endured a lot of things in his life, but this had to be the worst one yet. Not only was he on the verge of death, though yet again, he was being left behind in the dust...by ones he thought he could trust. "Now let's go." Vegeta turned around. "We still have Planet Earth on our list next."

Nappa did so as well and took off. And here Kakarot lied...on the brink of death's doorstep. Now going into panic mood Kakarot began to search all over his body armor with his hands touching all over himself, looking for something...something. He wasn't too sure if that something was with him, but there were certainly no other options. He had to chance it.

Kakarot choked up more blood, but he kept on searching. His lip and chin covered in red had quivered, but he was looking for a way to survive now. Kakarot touched his waist...until he felt something.

If this was what he thought it was, then surely he'd be okay. If not, then it was definitely the end for him. Either one of two things was right there in his hands.

There being a 50/50 chance of living, Kakarot knew he had to pull out whatever he thought would be able to keep him alive.

There was only one way to find out.


	18. Retaliation

By now it was just passed midnight and the threat of the entire Red Ribbon Army was in full effect, raging over across the entire world with the many men they had as soldiers. Due to their extreme aggressiveness, many innocents have fallen in the process of their hostile take over. For others, however, they managed to defend themselves and defeat what was coming to them. Only those lucky few.

Far in a remote area, Tien and an old friend Chaotzu both just happened to be near a waterfall out in forest area, where everything was rather lively, but at the same time just as tranquil. The two hovered in the sky, side by side, looking far down below. In a big river below the two where the heavy waters fell into, lied multiple bodies and broken machines. The bright stars above, as well as the moon, made the scene look rather beautiful in its own right.

The man that had led this attack against Tien and Chaotzu was Captain yellow. And he lied face down, floating above the water, his lungs now filled with a lot of it. He and his own personal group were set out to attack a region of the planet. They just happened to find the wrong group of people to mess with. A mission failed.

"What should we do with them?" Chaotzu asked, looking forward to Tien to making the next move.

"I don't know," Tien responded. "But I've heard my fair share of stories about these people...The Red Ribbon Army. If they're truly trying to rule over the entire planet, then I just know we're not being the only ones that are targeted right now."

"So others like Kakarot are being attacked?" Chaotzu asked. For just a few seconds of silence, Chaotzu had awaited an answer from his three-eyed partner. "Tien?" Chaotzu repeated a bit more edge to his voice.

Tien had his face away from Chaotzu, his thoughts obviously on an entirely different matter. He knew better than to disturb his partner's train of thought, so he waited.

"Do you feel that?" Tien asked, now looking back to Chaotzu.

The smaller fighter shook his pasty face. "No," Chaotzu responded. He tried to sense out for something, albeit his skills at sensing energy wasn't as elite as Tien's was

"Then focus," Tien advised. He went back to concentrating on that power he felt. It was like a spark of fire, one that suddenly happened to burst in the midst of nothing. It had overwhelmed all the others he felt before, much powerful than the ones he was accustomed to. But the power was totally unfamiliar, and that was what piqued all of his interest. If it wasn't Kakarot, or Piccolo, or anyone else he knew, then who?

Listening to Tien, Chaotzu decided to close his eyes and feel out for a signal, out and afar. He momentarily closed his eyes, focusing really hard on this energy Tien was implying to him just seconds ago.

"What the!?" Chaotzu's eyes shot open, having finally gotten a hold of it. "I-I do feel that!" Chaotzu's sweaty palms started to shake at the irresistible force of power he was now feeling. It was going from place to place, making itself known "That's power is raging huge and all over the place!"

"Indeed it is," Tien confirmed. A light grin was apparent on Tien's face. "While this power is kind of intimidating...I am curious to who it could possibly be." Tien made contact with Chaotzu before continuing to speak. "Do you want to come with me?"

Chaotzu nodded in response. Tien already knew the answer, seeing that Chaotzu was never one to leave his back unless kindly requested to do so. The two went through thick and thin with one another, no matter what the situation happened to be.

"Okay. Then let's go." Tien and Chaotzu both took off into the skies.

* * *

Tien and Chaotzu surely weren't the only ones to have sensed this great power-level.

Piccolo himself had sensed this way earlier and went on to follow just exactly what this force was that was wreaking havoc all over. And if it wasn't as if his eyes were deceiving him just from what he was seeing. Nonetheless, reality or not Piccolo was a bit taken aback by what he had his eyes lied on as of right now up from afar on a skyscraper in one of the now messed up cities...

Below him, Ox had just taken out an entire portion of the Red Ribbon Army all by himself, this being his second one. The previous group he had taken on further south, that being led by General Copper. Here, the leader of this group was in awe. Multiple burning buildings surrounded him, cracked streets and wrecked cars that lied in the middle of them. Pieces of the structures on the building came falling down, landing hard all around them.

The short and chubby Captain Dark was idle, all of his men dead surrounding him. All he had was a single pistol that remained in his holster. His instinct was to grab the gun and shoot as his enemy, but at the same time, he was as nervous as a man scared of heights flying to the moon. He found himself having a truly difficult time reacting to his fight or flight instinct. He was within a rock and a hard place.

Ox stood an obvious look of anger on his face. After all the major destruction of tanks and helicopters caused by a rampaging four-year-old, Ox appeared quite a bit dirty with soot all around his body, especially being on his face. Almost 100% of his face was covered in it, besides his eyes, which he could see perfectly with, filled with complete hatred and indignation.

And those very eyes that Captain Dark was fixated on was something he didn't take very much liking to, being that this single kid had the stare of a killer, and that was obvious of how Ox had rid well over a thousand men without hesitating, his anger being the fuel to his actions.

"Look, kid..." Dark started, his mouth quivering, hindering his ability to speak coherently and calmly. "...you can calm down and nobody else will have to get hurt here." He was shaking from head to toe, shaking so much that the glasses he had on right now could have just cracked at any moment and it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone witnessing this. "I can see that you're angry...but you can have a spot with us."

Ox was still very much incensed, going on for a while now. Captain Dark swallowed a great bit of saliva, his arms shaking as he tried to reach for his gun without the boy taking notice. "So if you will..."

Ox didn't buy this one bit. His teeth were trembling, so angry he was. "Be...with the people...t-the people that killed...MY MOTHER!?" A great amount of aura began to generate surrounding the kid, pure white aura, surrounding him like a flame to a forest fire.

Captain Dark quickly reached for the pistol he had in his holster, in attempt to try and protect himself before it was far too late. But too late it indeed was. Ox had his palm open wide and stretched out, a big ball of ki being charged right in it. Dark pulled out his gun, but hesitated and dropped it as soon as the tip of the pistol was away from the holster. "SHIT!" Dark went to bend over for his gun so he could take out Ox, but he could feel the bright white ball of ki inching itself closer towards him. The desperation to just come out of this atrocious situation alive that backfired enabled him to panic more, losing a sense of what he was doing for a split second. That split second was all it took for him before it was all she wrote.

Dark looked up for just a slight second and knew...it was over.

No screams of agony occurred, nor there being a peep of pleading. Dark accepted his fate and was completely eradicated off the face of planet earth, as well as all the men that lied down on their faces and backs behind them with the tools and machines they used to intimidate others. All of them was vaporized at the mere touch of the blazing inferno being Ox's ki of energy.

Piccolo shivered at the sheer power coming from Ox. 'This kid...when angered his power exceeds that of the man that came looking for Kakarot...!' Piccolo was worried, yet also embarrassed at the fact that the spawn of his worst enemy was far stronger than he currently was, and if he tried anything then he wouldn't have any chance of stopping his insanity at all. Going up against the brat was a definite no.

"RAHHHHHHHH!" Ox yelled out into the skies once more. His anger was yet to calm down and he wanted the entire world to know just how vexed the troubled boy was.

"So what do the hell do we do about this?" Red asked one of his men.

Officer Black, one of the more loyal men of Red looked onto the footage. They watched everything that was taking place with all of their men with various spy cameras scattered across the planet, multiples of them in every single region of the planet. He noted the anger coming from the boss man, having their most daring plan being ruined by some group of fighters.

But while Red was angry, 20 himself wasn't really all that frustrated. Even while things weren't going as they primarily had planned, he was the one who appeared the most stoic, not a speck of worry being shown from him. "I warned you about threats at your last sit down, Red."

Red scoffed. "While yes you may be right as of now, you're still just a scientist when it comes to these matters. It's best you get to work with making Officer Black one of your higher androids by using the quick method you did with Violet and Blue. Stick to what you're doing and I will stick to doing what I am currently doing."

Android 20 chuckled to Red's rather straightforward response. "Dr. Gero was the one to create me, Android 20." Red looked towards Gero out of the corner of his eye. "And androids are far more superior to those of humans."

"What the hell does that have to do with me?" Red asked, not even looking Gero's way. "Stick with your job, you heap of metal!"

Shick Shick

Red turned around. Upon shifting his body toward Officer Black, he was now staring right into the barrel of a gun. "W-What the hell?" He hoped that this was just some sick joke.

Gero chuckled. "I have been studying how you have been ruling over this organization. While I can argue that my methods would prove far more superior, it would be pointless just talking if I didn't put my money where my mouth is."

"You can't be serious!" Red protested. He looked directly at Black as he spoke. "We've been doing this together for years Black! You can't just toss me off to the side as trash!" His most loyal subordinate betraying him wasn't something he would ever think to happen-not in a million years.

BANG!

Red had a perfect hole sent right through the middle of his head. He knew what took place for a brief moment, but everything in his system shut down. The fact that one of his more loyal men would take him out on a whim shocked him like no other. Black, Gero, and Gero's white puppet all watched as Red fell over on his back, dead.

"I'm as serious as you are dead." 20 chuckled.

Black lowered his smoking gun, looking into Red's frozen eyes of unknown betrayal. "I overheard you speaking on the true reason you desired the dragon balls...wanting them just so you can be tall. Selfish." Such a thing wasn't something that would benefit the Red Ribbon Army as a whole. Once he mentioned this to Android 20, said android had convinced the high ranking officer to ally himself with he and 19, having a much bigger role forming in his genius head, one that would prove much more methodical and orderly compared to what he originally had in mind.

"Indeed," Gero added on. "19, come clean this up!"

Officer Black looked through the footage of Ox letting out a grand amount of energy. "What do we do about him?" Black asked. Seeing the kid with so much power was somewhat vexatious for the officer, though seeing that Gero wasn't worried in the slightest, he maintained his cool.

"Oh...Kakarot's son?" 20 asked. "I just recently sent two familiar friends to take care of that problem." He looked over to Black. "You, on the other hand, we have to worry about getting you together and turning you into a superior model of an android...that of a cyborg." Converting Black into a cyborg was one of the beginning steps of 20's new plan. He had tried before and failed many times, having taken in subjects against their will for his own opportunistic convictions.

Black grinned, ready to do whatever it took to have the Red Ribbon Army known as an established force once more. "I'm ready whenever you are, sir."

"Let's get to it now then." Gero turned around, following after 19, who carried out Red's corpse, leaving a thin trail of blood. "The sooner the better."

* * *

Ox had just let out a great amount of energy upon giving his loudest shout into the clouds. The yell had spikes of energy shoot out into all different angles, destroying everything in its path. Even with the fallen and burnt buildings in the area, he just made the area far worse than what it was before.

"Pant...pant...pant..." Ox was breathing heavily. His time of shooting all over the planet, taking out high forces of military with sheer willpower and determination was to eventually come back to him. He felt himself a bit weaker than before, though that innate fire hadn't left him yet.

"After all that overexertion he's finally burned himself out." Ox could be seen bent over a little, sweating a lot. "His power has shot down back to where it lied originally. He's done with his raging spree." Piccolo hopped off the building he stood atop of. As soon as Piccolo no longer was in contact with the building, it came crashing down at free fall speeds.

Ox heard this and turned around, looking for something...or someone behind him. He tried to sense out for a ki signal but didn't get anything.

"Over here," Piccolo called out. He manipulated his ki into having the boy think he was in an area that he truly wasn't.

Ox looked over Piccolo, not being familiar with this man at all. "Huh?" One look at him and he immediately had his doubts. He recollected the last time when a stranger approached him, coating his evil deeds with a warm and friendly smile.

"I'd figure it'd be enough, your giant rampage that you have going on."

Ox got into a defensive stance, being sure not to let his guard down this time. "Are you apart of them, too?" he asked. Even if he was physically fatigated by all the energy he had exerted, he was still ready to fight on, no matter the costs.

"No," Piccolo responded. "While our ideals lie nowhere the same, I'm quite opposed to them."

"Then why are you here? Are you going to help?" Ox asked.

"That's not something I totally had in mind..." Piccolo's eyes trailed off behind Ox. He spotted two major energy balls coming from up high, a blatant attempt to take him out. "Seems like I have no choice!" Piccolo stretched his elastic arms out and got a hold of the boy's collar. Once he had a grip on Ox, he reeled the boy closer to him.

"HUH!?" Ox looked behind him, watching the very spot he stood on earlier get blown up to pieces. A huge dust of smoke was formed due to the attack. Ox looked up above him, looking onto Piccolo, the man who just happened to save him. Piccolo kept his eyes peeled in the sky, knowing that something else was to come next.

"In the air!" Piccolo shouted, having spotted yet another attack. He ascended high up as fast as he could, just barely managing to get out of the way.

Ox was a split second after Piccolo but still managed to make it out on time and ascend up high as well to avoid the attack targeted for them both.

"I can't sense their powers..." Piccolo growled.

"They're not humans!" Ox warned Piccolo.

"Excuse me?" Piccolo asked.

"They're made of robotic parts that come together to have them function like sentient beings! That's the main reason we can't sense them. It's as if they don't have a soul!" Ox had been all over the world, facing multiples of them. It was only a matter of time before he figured out just why he wasn't capable of feeling life coming from any of the droids that he faced off against during his berserk spree.

"Wow!" Violet came from below, clapping her hands together. "We have quite the smarty pants on our hands."

Blue showed beside Violet, smirking. "What, does the kid want a cookie or something?"

"That makes sense..." Piccolo said. He realized that he wasn't able to sense no type of energy coming from them, even if he tried. So all of what the boy stated simply had to be true, there is no other explanation. Ox powered up once more with a brief mighty yell, ready to fight. Piccolo glanced at the kid aside of him. "Each time he powers up he gets weaker than before...he has to be careful..."

Ox placed his two hands before him and shot forth two attacks at the same time. Violet and Blue saw nothing but free power for themselves and stuck their hands out, letting the energy produced from the kid be sucked in by the circular objects they had affixed into the palm of their hands.

'What the?'

Instantly Blue and Violet both disappeared at the same time. Piccolo got on guard, ready to battle. Ox was a little taken back by what just happened and didn't see Violet coming for him. Due to this, he was decked right across the face- hard.

Blue happened to just reappear before Piccolo, going for an overhead punch. Piccolo reacted perfectly, blocking with his elbow. 'I have to stay on my toes with him...' Piccolo dodged a two piece combo and subsequently vanished.

Blue was left with his fists just sticking out, having missed widely. Piccolo was now behind Blue, looking onto Ox, seeing how the kid was holding up for a moment.

"What's the matter, kid? Can't fend off a lady like myself?" Violet chuckled and continued to attack Ox relentlessly. The more he was being struck, the weaker his defense was getting. And Violet could feel it. The woman decided to take advantage of this and continued to swing. Afterwhile, rendered Ox a simple punch to the arms. The force of such a fierce, albeit ordinary punch, stung Ox's arms all around and had the kid remove them, opening himself up entirely.

Violet rendered Ox a knee to the stomach and elbowed him atop the head. "This kid's energy is becoming far too low." Violet blasted Ox further down, sending him smashing into the cracked roads. "It's not even worth taking."

Having seen the kid being beaten so easily, Piccolo wasn't so sure if he should have teamed up with him in the first place. "Damn...he's no help at all." Had the boy still been livid, their chances of coming out on top would be much greater.

Blue showed up before Piccolo and attacked him in the face using his elbow. Piccolo was caught off-guard and sent stumbling back a few yards. Quickly recovering, Piccolo ducked under Blue's incoming kick and came back up, punching Blue directly in the chin.

UUF

Blue was directed into the air once he was taken off his toes. Slowly he came back down, regaining self-control. It didn't take long for Piccolo to register that something was completely different about Blue.

Blue touched his hair or lack thereof. What used to be shown as his blonde hair was now replaced by a brain completely protected by glass. "You kind of got me there," he laughed. He rushed after Piccolo. "But not again!"

Piccolo stood still, allowing his opponent to rush towards him. "Hm." Piccolo examined at the brain inside the glass Blue had atop his head, looking for a weakness of some sort. 'If I could figure out a way to possibly break that open and separate his brain from his body, then maybe he'd shut down.' Piccolo was going over things in his head, ways he could take out this android without having to entirely lose a lot of energy at the same time.

Now having one objective, Piccolo got to it. He and Blue were now going back and forth in the sky, trading blows with one another.

Violet looked down at the young boy Ox, who just lied down on his back, breathing hard. He didn't realize until now just how much power he had used. The kid was pretty sure he'd be capable of defeating his opponent, had he saved a bit of his energy. Violet stood over the boy, her fists placed on her hips. "Ox...son of Kakarot." Just saying such a thing made her laugh, especially after knowing Kakarot's background. "A boy with such potential and doesn't even know how to control it. What a waste." The android didn't see anything else she could have gotten out of the boy at this point, so she figured it would be best to kill him and have him rejoice with his mother.

Ox opened his eyes for a bit. He was far too burned out to truly continue to fight off Violet. She moved back, her hands generating ki. The woman was ready to do away with the boy, however, the moment that she moved away a bit, she gave Ox quite the pretty sight of the full moon.

"Now it's time you D-"

Ox's eyes started to go completely red. He, like his father, had the possession of a brown, furry tail, a trait that came from his alien side. The boy was never informed about such a thing and didn't know what type of influence the full moon would have on him. The boy could only look up to something beautiful before his supposed inevitable death. He wanted to close his eyes, though the trigger to his transformation hit him. Violet had to take a step back as Ox slowly began to grow.

The clothes the kid had put on to start the day ripped piece by piece, all segments of it falling thinly to the road below. Violet paid no attention to that and kept her eyes glued to the growing boy, who was growing into an overgrown beast.

"What the hell?" Blue stopped his fight with Piccolo looked below onto Ox, the sudden size of the kid having caught his attention.

Piccolo could feel Ox's power began to rise once more. He took a peek as well and saw something he never thought would take place once more in his existence. Piccolo took a glance above. "The full moon...!" Piccolo now knew what was going on. Piccolo retained all the memories of his father and the person the one who spawned him split with. Seeing the sight of Ox taking the form of a beast of this caliber had given Piccolo immediate flashbacks.

"OHH!" Blue laughed out loud. "Our data shows that his kind transforms under the full moon." Seeing that their data was truly familiar with this, he didn't see what the problem could have been at all.

Violet cracked her neck, looking onto the big beast before her. "Unfortunately Android 20 hasn't been able to figure out what exactly triggers the transformation. If we knew, then we'd have a much easier time taking this beast out."

Seeing Blue was completely distracted, Piccolo punched Blue him in the face and gut-checked him as hard as he could. Blue had doubled over, not seeing any of Piccolo's attacks coming for him, thus having his guard dropped. "Rrrr..." Using his pointy elbow Piccolo made sure he rammed it as hard as he possibly could against the glass atop Blue's head.

The mere force of Piccolo's last attack to end his combo formed a crack was formed as Blue was plummeting down below.

"RAWWWRRR!" Unlike the man to conceive him, Ox had a true lack of experience when it came to transforming under the full moon. In fact, this was his first time doing so. Much like Kakarot in his early stages, Ox didn't have any type of controllable conscience, letting his unkempt behavior be known by everyone.

Violet was a bit worried, knowing that this kid was now ten times stronger. And the anger coming from the ape somehow made him even stronger as he roared through the skies. The ape set his eyes on Violet now, whom he had intentions of demolishing. Any being that the beast was to see in sight, the first instinctive action going on was to destroy it, pulverize it, pummel it. Any way possible, to the monstrous animal, it simply did not matter.

"Just because you're tens of times bigger doesn't mean I'll back down!" Blue fired an attack at the hundred foot ape from afar. The ape just took on the attack and roared louder.

"You idiot...you pissed him off!" Violet scolded her partner. Violet hopped off the ground and away from the ape, in order to create distance. In doing so she had barely avoided a giant that had come near, attempting to swipe her away.

"How..." the bewildered General Blue was at a near loss for words. Just moments ago, he was confident in taking on the beast. But now, judging by the pure speed of him, and the force of his attacks, he wasn't too sure anymore. The best they could do at the current moment would be to steal his energy, not knowing any other way.

"How about you mind your own business?" Piccolo asked.

"Huh?" Blue looked right above him, where Piccolo hovered.

Piccolo didn't hesitate and blasted Blue directly against the glass he had cracked earlier. Upon hearing a shattering sound, Piccolo grinned. 'Heh. If the glass is as fragile as that, then I'm going to have an easier time than I had originally thought.'

Blue lied on his stomach, growling angrily. Shards of glass had just gone up against his no longer protected brain. And with the damage of that, he knew he wouldn't be able to function properly. Piccolo stood above Blue, smirking. Blue knew that Piccolo was aware of the brain functioning to help himself function. And with this knowledge, Piccolo was more than likely going to take that out, rendering Blue out of commission forever.

Blue struggled to lift his head up to face Piccolo. Said green man had his arms folded, looking down on Blue with a look of victory. "Y-You won't get away..." The man had one last thing he could try to do in order to retain a good amount of strength. He reached for Piccolo's purple pants, looking to wrap his hands around the man's ankles.

Piccolo simply took one step back, moving his leg from Blue's reach. Blue let out a growl of frustration upon realizing that he would not be able to suck any energy from him, thus preventing himself from gaining more power. "I know what you just tried to do." Piccolo had the tip of his index finger glowing with a beam of light, directly aimed at the unprotected brain of Blue. "Your time is up." Slowly Piccolo could see Blue begin to shut down as his movements started to slow down just subsequent to frying his brain. The android twitched for a few moments prior to eventually dying out.

Having finished his own opponent, Piccolo then turned around. He found Violet struggling with Ox. Since the female converted android was fixated on one thing entirely, having forgotten the presence of Piccolo, said person decided to make his next move.

From the very beginning of things, Piccolo was watching Ox in action. Now nearing the end Tien and Chaotzu was watching how these two operated. They both made sure to place themselves in a far enough spot to be able to see the fight and not be caught up in the battle zone. From there, they managed to see just what the power was"That's that power," Tien spoke. "It came from that ape."

"It's way stronger than before!," Chaotzu called out.

"I know," Tien replied, keeping his cool. "It's hard to believe that power coming from that ape is almost ten times stronger than what Piccolo is right now." Such power to Tien, he only wondered to who it could possibly belong. He was yet to figure out it was the power of his former rival.

Violet had a ball of ki in her hands, having produced the biggest one she could muster yet. She had no intentions of dragging on this fight and hoped that this single attack would manage to do away with the rambunctious ape once and for all. "I'm going to end this right now!"

"Not on my watch." Piccolo got a hold of her hands, hampering her from being able to remotely launch her energy based attack. "You're not going anywhere." He made sure to keep a tight grip, keeping her still.

Violet growled and tried to kick away from Piccolo. "L-Let me go!" She bellowed.

"RAWR!" The ape spotted both Piccolo and Violet from afar. Thinking it could now take out two victims, he sent his blast to the both of them.

Piccolo waited, having Violet perfectly still. He could feel the heat of the Oozaru's attack nearing him second by second. He knew he had to time it perfectly if he wanted to be able to leave with his life and having the android's being taken in the process. "Now I'll go." Surrounding his free hand was ki, which he charged so he'd be able to make his final move prior to leaving. He chopped off Violet's robotic hands from the wrist and took off with her energy robbers.

"NOOO!" Violet screamed, voice full of panic. She wasn't going to be able to defend herself and had to take the attack head-on. Any chances of survival against this were next to null. The only thing she had up her sleeve was the ability to consume energy. With that gone, she had nothing left in her arsenal.

BOOM!

Violet was reduced to every single complete part used to help make her into the android that she was. Piccolo landed safely below, his hands still gripping the ones he chopped off just moments ago. Nothing but wires stuck out, with very little blood dripping. Piccolo dropped them with disgust prior to placing his focus on the beast with no control.

"How are we going to take care of this?" Tien came out from behind asking. He had decided to finally enter the battle zone, standing aside Piccolo.

Piccolo had sensed Tien earlier, so he wasn't surprised when he decided to come out of nowhere at this very moment. He didn't answer by speaking, but rather showing Tien the solution. He aimed his hand at the full moon, knowing exactly what to do. A ball of ki emitted from the palm of his hands, directed at the moon, which exploded just seconds later.

The entire area glistened for a fleeting moment as sparkles of the destroyed moon surrounded the entire planet. It eventually all died out, leaving the entire area nearly completely black and void of any type of illumination.

"Now...watch."

The three watched as Ox continued his rampage in his uncontrolled state, beating his chest as if he was the king of the jungle. However, the disappearance of the moon slowly began to take its effect on him. Having suddenly come to a stop in his barbaric actions. Chaotzu, Piccolo, and Tien all watched as Ox began to revert back to his normal form.

"Who is that?" Tien asked. For the longest, he had been wondering just who the hell it was. He was surprised enough to see that this destructive power belonged to a mere child, though he was yet to find out who's child that kid belonged to.

"That's Kakarot's kid," Piccolo responded bluntly.

"He has a son? That strong?" Tien asked, amazed. "How strong is Kakarot, then?" That was, of course, just a simple question. He wanted to know if he would still be able to take up with the man. He had been wanting to fight him for the longest now.

"Nowhere near his son's strength." He made his way over to the now naked, unconscious child. "Have you all been attacked by the same army as well?"

"Yes," Tien responded. "They're attacking all parts of the planet."

"Figures." Piccolo picked up the boy by his tail. Ox was unconscious and dangling from the green man's grasp.

"So what are we going to do?" Chaotzu asked, mostly referring to himself and Tien.

"I don't know about you two, but I've got a pretty big weapon on my hands." Piccolo held the boy up, speaking of the child. "I'm going to wait until he rests before I make any other move."

"We'll be on the look-out then," Tien said.

Piccolo didn't respond anything else and ascended off to the sky, leaving Chaotzu and Tien behind. With Ox in his hand, he had a little demon who had no idea how to control his powers yet. Piccolo knew well enough that Kakarot wasn't here, so he'd be able to use the kid's power to his own advantage. He knew he wanted to make the kid stronger, though he wasn't sure what he wanted him for.

"Let's go, Chaotzu." Tien took off as well, deciding to carry his own path alongside his friend.

"Oh, man...this is bad!"

* * *

In no other place where nothing but water surrounded a small house, the gang was placed there, having got together. With the recent destruction caused by the Red Ribbon Army, the gang had all caught up to Kame house.

Krillin, Lazuli, Lapis, Bulma, Oolong, Puar were all there.

"The Red Ribbon Army?" Oolong asked, a deep look of worry on his face. "First Piccolo and now these guys? Can we ever catch a break?"

"So Yamcha's gone?" Puar asked Bulma, his lips shivering. The little, floating, furry cat tried all he could not cry. He and Yamcha had a bond like no other. He knew that the Dragon Balls existed and was capable of bringing his friend back, but such a loss was still heart wrenching for the little guy.

"He's gone," Bulma responded, a tone of solemnity in her voice. She was seated on the couch, still having a sensation of the cold and still body she touched when Yamcha was left for dead. That was something she just couldn't ignore.

"Then we know they're not to be played with," Krillin said. The bald monk looked at the floor, trying to hold his emotions. To him, Yamcha was actually a close friend. They had known one another since they'd been training under Roshi's guidance, which was years ago! "To be taken out..." Krillin winced, only feeling pity for his friend. "Poor Yamcha."

Puar was off into a corner, crying his eyes out. There Oolong was alongside him, consoling him as best he could.

Roshi saw things were bad and got serious. Moments like these were when Roshi lived up to his name as well as the wisdom of a man with such old age. "Yamcha's one of the more experienced fighters this planet has to offer. And if he was to go down just like he did, then we need to be careful in how we approach this scenario."

"I felt a big power earlier today," Lapis mentioned. He looked over at his sister. "Did you feel it, too?"

Lazuli nodded in response. "I did."

"Who was it?" Bulma asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lapis responded.

"What was it?" Krillin asked, his interest being grabbed.

"It was Kakarot's son," Lazuli answered to Krillin. "Last night his energy was all over the place. Every few minutes he would be in an entirely different section, destroying off groups of different members of the Red Ribbon Army."

"If I had to guess he was out disposing of the majority of those clowns," Lapis assumed.

"That little boy we saw years ago now has a kid?" Roshi asked. "And that was the energy I sensed earlier. He is stronger than all of our powers combined." To hear such a thing caught him by surprise for sure. He, like any other normal individual, would see Kakarot on t.v. now. He just wondered how such a powerful, young rowdy boy managed to turn into a lucrative businessman. He just hoped his child wasn't as unruly as his father was as a youngster

"A true threat," Lapis remarked.

"Not if he uses them the right way," Lazuli countered.

"So what is he up to now?" Oolong asked.

The twins both shrugged, having no idea. "His power suddenly diminished all of a sudden," Lazuli said. "I've no idea where he could be now."

"We need to stick together," Roshi said. Looking over to Bulma he noted the blank expression on her face. "Honey, if your parents need a place to stay, then they are more than welcome here. We can't afford any more losses than we already have endured."

"I agree," Krillin spoke out. "We have strength in numbers, so its best we all work together."

And so they all agreed to come as a unit to get through their current predicament. With bad predicaments, the gang always found themselves in their best moments when they were together. They needed it more now than ever.

* * *

On the other side of things, on a different world, Kakarot found himself in an extreme doubt. He knew not whether he was to live or die. His eyes closed, he reached for whatever he felt inside his armor or lack thereof and pulled it out. The Saiyan was on the verge of death, knocking on its doorstep, waiting to be invited in.

'Moment of truth...' He barely had the strength to be able to lift up his hand, so he knew he had to get this over with quickly.

Kakarot opened his eyes, which he had closed for a brief moment. Had it been sealed shut any longer, he would have found himself unconscious, and eventually die. While his vision was nothing short of horrible and utterly blurry, he knew exactly what he was looking at. A weak smirk appeared on his face, having felt exactly what he had been looking for. "H-here you are..." His hopes now up, Kakarot was glad now knowing he had a definite chance of survival. Kakarot reached into the little bag he had with his other hand.

The feeling of a small bean was what he had, rubbing it between his fingers. He made sure to keep some on him as he knew he would need it, especially since he would be fighting. Not for a second did he see himself in a situation as bad a this, albeit he was simply happy he got a hold of it.

While reaching for it he found himself shaking hard. Although this was nothing he could control, he still managed to get a green bean from inside the pouch. He didn't wast any time and plucked it into his mouth. He closed his eyes in relief, letting his entire body relax and just chewed.

In his mind, Kakarot could only think about those two twins that had given him the beans inside the pouch. He definitely owed them back for this.

GULP!

Kakarot swallowed it and just waited for the effects to take place. He could feel the hole in his chest close up, his vision started to become clear, his eyes fluttering. And the best part...he no longer felt weak. Kakarot rose up off the ground, in fact feeling a lot stronger...stronger than he ever imagined he could possibly be.

This experience was something Saiyans never normally felt throughout the majority of their lifetime on a general basis. Whenever they fought an opponent for a period amount of time, whatever their strength, they'd get stronger. The stronger their adversary, the stronger they'd become subsequent to battle. The thing here was that Kakarot was almost a dead man, had it not been for those senzu beans. After coming out from something that no other Saiyan would have come out of, his power flew through the roof. This new power Kakarot felt surging inside of him was something he was dying to release.

Kakarot now calmed down, looked into the air. "I can't feel none of their ki..." he balled his fist. "Those bastards!" Kakarot started to feel his anger rise. The simple thought of their faces made him irate. He couldn't believe that Vegeta would laugh in his face as he suffered that much. Not to mention, his brother, would leave him to die. 'That idiotic fool should have just killed me instantly on the spot. But no...he made me suffer that pain I had to endure. We were supposed to be working together! From what I always understood, if one man on your team is down, then it's your job to try and help them!' Kakarot spat at the ground. 'But those miscreants, good for nothing, unethical traitors go by their own rules! They will pay...and dearly.'

Then suddenly his head jerked to the side, having lost his focus on revenge. Kakarot felt a power behind him and turned around, not sure who it was at first. The person he was looking onto before him was the one person he was going to kill the moment he entered this world.

"Hello..." a woman in a tunic with long black hair waved. The thing that was immediately brought to attention was her purple eyes.

"You." Kakarot scoffed, having felt the familiar ki. "You're the one that got away." She didn't reply. Having not got a response Kakarot simply aimed his hand at her, ready to kill her off. "I suppose I can just finish the job right now."

"That's not necessary..." Dedana slowly began to lower herself to the ground. "Master..." she softly said as she remained on one knee.

Kakarot furrowed a brow, confused as to what Dedana just referred to him as. The reason being as to why she would even call him master was much more complex "I beg your pardon?" Kakarot asked, his eyes blinking furiously.

Dedana spoke. "By the law of this sacred land, I was chosen to be a slave to all those that still resided on this planet." Then raising her head up, she looked onto Kakarot. "And you...are the only person here that continues to breathe the breath of the living."

"Eh..." Kakarot slowly lowered his hand beside his waist. Looking over Dedana he realized he could definitely use her to his benefit if required. 'A servant, eh?' A smirk crept onto Kakarot's face. If Dedana would be able to prove useful in the future, then perhaps, just perhaps she would be able to get Kakarot out of sticky situations and get him into profitable ones as well. The Saiyan was very reluctant, though he only saw more benefits than risks. While very weird for him, he didn't mind.

"Fine by me. What do you call yourself?"

Dedana stood up. "I am Dedana..." she said with a friendly smile.

"Call me Kakarot," the Saiyan replied. "You need not to use with formalities with me. Just do whatever I tell you to do, I suppose." He scratched the back of his head, still not knowing what the hell he was getting himself into.

Dedana was a bit taken aback. By the look of things, she figured Kakarot to be sort of a fastidious person at first glance. "Well...what are we to do?" Dedana asked. Her being the follower, she had expected Kakarot to be the one leading and calling all the shots.

Kakarot remained silent for a moment. Right now the saiyan's main goal was to definitely go after the three Saiyans that just backstabbed him without remorse. But he had to think. Where are they headed to next...?

Dedana waited patiently for Kakarot to answer. Then it clicked in his head. "We're going to be headed to Planet Earth," Kakarot answered. Reaching into his armor he pulled out a little pad. With the pressing of a few buttons, he had his traveling device making way right towards him. "We need to get there as soon as possible." He recalled Vegeta saying that he would head to earth once they were done, to rid of them no doubt. He had a wife and a son there that he cared about and couldn't just allow them to perish by those that betrayed him.

"With all due respect, you can't possibly go like that," Dedana remarked, talking about Kakarot's current appearance. She saw the broken armor, as well as the dried blood, left all over his face.

"Hm?" Kakarot looked at his hands and arms. "What exactly do you mean?" Having taken the senzu bean, all of the battles marks Kakarot previously had been all gone. Although pieces and chunks of his armor were gone, his chest plate being the most obvious out of everything else. The great number of bruises on his apparel was far too obvious as well.

Dedana smiled. "Let me show you." Dedana walked over towards Kakarot. Kakarot stood still, not sure what Dedana was up to. Dedana stopped once she was in arm's length of Kakarot. "Here." Her hands began to glow.

The purple glow surrounded Kakarot. And just seconds later the Saiyan appeared in the exact same armor he had on before, but completely different. Dedana backed up, smirking. "I added some of my own touches to the style, but I think you look nice."

Kakarot had on the new armor of the same exact color pattern, with black gloves. Unlike his older style where his legs were shown freely, he had on long pants. But that wasn't even the nice part. Over his entire attire, he had a pure white cloak that covered his armor, it going all the way down towards his pants.

"All you need to do now is wipe that blood from your face and you'll look as good as new

Kakarot did as told wiped the blood from his face using his forearm. Kakarot went on to study himself and check out the new look that he had received from Dedana. Dedana could tell he liked it as he started to grin a little bit. Kakarot was definitely feeling this new style. "Nice touch. While I doubt this type of clothing is vogue, I can make it work."

Dedana smiled. "Glad you like it. While being a slave is naturally a bad thing, the upside is that I do get some natural abilities so I can be more accommodating to my master." The events of what transpired with the other slave, Vurma, was in the back of her mind. She then looked up, having spotted a circular pod in their area. "Is that our ride?" she asked.

Kakarot watched as the pod lowered near the both of them. "Indeed it is." The pod's entrance opened, allowing them to get it. "Unfortunately it's a ride for one." Kakarot got right in, sitting down comfortably.

Dedana chuckled. "Well, I don't mind."

Without any warning, Dedana just sat right in Kakarot's lap, taking the liberty to do so. Kakarot expected Dedana to suddenly just enter in the pod atop his lap at all and had his back all the way pressed against his seat, even though that barely helped in forming more space between the two. The pod doors closed, getting ready to blast them off into space.

Dedana looked behind her. The Saiyan's face appeared a bit flushed, not to mention he didn't seem so comfortable as well. "Are you okay?"

Kakarot nodded, preferring to rather not speak. The blood rushing from his brain downward had him at a loss of words for the moment, so he kept it brief. "Let's just be on our way." Dedana moved around a bit, trying to get herself comfortable. Kakarot took a deep breath, trying to remain cool. 'I'll need Pilaf to build me a new ship when I get there...this is going to be a long ride.'

The pod took off into the sky and blasted off, it's destination headed right for where it came from.

* * *

But out in space, however, the Saiyans were already making their way towards Earth.

They had made a stop on a planet not so far away to Anded. one of the owned planets throughout the universe. Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta were all back to one hundred percent after staying in the healing tanks for a few hours and in new fighting attire.

Vegeta slapped on his gloves, getting himself dressed. He wasn't as injured as his comrades, but he figured he needed the treatment. He had gone through more than he expected to while on Anded and needed to be ready for Earth, for all the weaklings it was to bring. Not to mention, they'd spend an entire year traveling. They needed to take a medical, rest, and meal break prior to heading back into their respective pods.

Nappa cracked his neck, releasing some tension in his body that surely needed to be released. He knew he'd have to carry himself back into the small space pod once more for a long period of time, so he had to prepare himself.

And Raditz was fixing one of the scouters before he put it on over his left eye.

The trio were all ready to continue off.

"So," Nappa started. "From what I heard over the scouter, Kakarot has a son over there on Planet Earth, huh?"

"Yes," Raditz responded, a bit of resentment in his voice. "If there is an opportunity we can take the boy in ourselves." Now he wasn't too sure about that. Judging by how weak his father was, he didn't know if he'd be able to even live past his father's meritless legacy.

"And why?" Vegeta asked. "He's the offspring of one of the most pathetic warriors I have ever met. As they say, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. So what would be the point in recruiting him?"

"Because we would have the chance of molding him into the Saiyan warrior he is meant to be. Unlike his sorry excuse of a father, he will spend his upbringing with real Saiyan warriors and will adapt to our lifestyle. Not to mention by the time he is an adult then he will be as strong as he is needed to be." This was, after all, the best explanation Raditz had to give. Having killed off one member of his family, he innately desired that he'd at the very least get to spend time with his nephew that he never got to meet.

"Haha, you certainly have high hopes," Nappa said, chuckling.

"While I doubt we could possibly make something that holds the genes of Kakarot great, I see your point," Vegeta said. "However we can cross that bridge when we get there. We should be focused on depopulating the planet right now."

The Saiyans all exited the dressing room and entered into the corridors. Many other soldiers just all stood in place by the presence of these three Saiyans. Their reputation was well known throughout the universe and those inferior to them knew better than to get in their way. And they'd be lying if they said they didn't like the respect they received from those under them.

They walked off like they owned the place.

"And where do you all think you're headed?" One of the soldiers asked as he blocked their view. He was a purple-skinned soldier with the face of a fish, antennas reaching out from his cheeks. He was known as one of the top soldiers in the entire organization, some even daring to call him and Vegeta equals.

Vegeta sighed. "We don't have any time for your infantile theatrics Kiwi. Get out the way." Vegeta brushed Kiwi off to the side with his shoulder as he continued his path.

"Oh no." Kiwi placed his hands on Vegeta's shoulders, preventing him from going any further. He heard the hostile growls coming from the other two Saiyans, though he simply ignored them both. "Why it seems to me that you've forgotten that we're just about as equal in power, Vegeta. You shouldn't treat me as if I am less than you. We're neither inferior or superior but merely equals. I'd expect you to treat me as such."

Vegeta moved his shoulder and wiped it off with his hand, with a face of disgust. "It's because you are." And without saying another word, the three continued their way off.

"Lord Freeza has been calling you for some time, Vegeta!" Kiwi shouted.

Vegeta just spat at the ground in response before entering his pod. They all ignored Kiwi as they took off into the sky.

Kiwi growled. "Bastard. I will not be ignored..." Taking such disrespect from Vegeta wasn't something he was simply going to allow without repercussions. Vegeta more than likely knew this, though he just didn't care.

* * *

Back on earth in the middle of the night Piccolo and Ox both remained to themselves, practically in the jungle. Piccolo watched as Ox continued to rest. He made sure to put his own gi on the kid so he wouldn't sleep nakedly in the cold. "A kid with such power is completely abnormal..." Piccolo thought aloud. "A true threat to my conquest of taking over this world myself and killing his father eventually."

Piccolo had his eyes glued towards Ox. "I can kill him right now...but what would be the use?" Thinking on the subject further, Piccolo growled in frustration and turned around, sighing. "It'd be the smart thing to do...kill the kid."

Ox silently yawned to himself, now finally starting to wake up.

"If I kill him right now I won't have to worry about an unnecessary threat." Piccolo then shook his head. "But I have this feeling...that...that I'll need him in the future." Piccolo then stood in silence momentarily, deciding what he was going to do.

Now Ox wasn't dumb. He knew immediately that Piccolo was referring to him and he didn't know what to do. He contemplated on if he should keep still or run away immediately, though the kid didn't even move. He felt paralyzed.

"I'm going to keep him alive...for now." It would take a bit more to actually kill the kid. Piccolo had this intuition that he'd need Ox in the future, albeit he could never pinpoint for exactly what.

The moment Ox noticed that Piccolo started to turn around he immediately placed his head back down, faking as if he was going to sleep...which he eventually did.

"Something worse is coming..." Piccolo looked into the bright stars. "I can feel it."

And Piccolo wasn't the only one to have this greater sense of intuition as well. His better half could feel it, too. Kami was fretting just as much over it as Piccolo was.

Mr. Popo noted that there was something strange going on with Kami. As his servant, he had to ask what was going on in Kami's mind. "Is something the matter?"

Kami usually tells Popo everything, there Popo being not only his servant but also his best friend. But this time it was different. "No." Kami shook his head. "Don't fret. It's nothing."

"Okay." Mr. Popo smiled and went back to watering his plants. He took Kami by his word, as he usually always did. If there truly wasn't anything to worry about, then Mr. Popo had nothing to concern over.

While Mr. Popo thought Kami was referring to him, he was dead wrong. Kami merely found it convenient to speak his thoughts aloud...in order to calm himself down.


	19. The Warning

"This is quite the shame...really." Gero studied over all the film. One by one his army was getting picked off by mere earthlings. The entire plan to take over every region of earth and restruct it as his own was not going as he had pictured it.

His puppet android stood alongside him, android 19. "Is there anything you wish for me to do?" he asked.

Gero looked more so over the tape. What was supposed to be the earth's biggest threat was being handled by those he deemed far inferior to The Red Ribbon Army itself. "Better we don't make any type of move yet," Gero responded. "I've just come up with a plan." This was the main reason the man truly wasn't concerning over everything transpiring at the current moment, of course. Being the genius that he was, he wouldn't enter something with a plan and not have a backup.

19 was quiet, merely waiting for Gero to explain just what he had in mind as their next step in taking over the planet for themselves. "I say we let them kill all of the rest of the Red Ribbon Army members," Gero continued on. "Everyone that is to be killed from now on is just merely the weakest link. Once they're all disposed of their won't be anything holding us back from achieving our initial goals."

"Ahuh!."

Gero grinned. "But that's not it, 19. We won't bother them at all for the next couple of months, maybe years even. From that point on they'll think that everything is fine and dandy. And when they least expect it, we'll hit them with the big one." Gero shut off what he had recorded, now the room nearly dark. The only things that gave light were the hundreds of bright buttons and technological devices flashing inside the underground room he had currently resided in. Gero had turned around and began to walk past 19.

19 watched as his master made his way to a certain object, a large capsule of some sort, maybe even a coffin if one were to call it that. Gero placed his hands over the capsule. Taking a hard look inside he lied his eyes on Officer Black, who was resting ever peacefully inside. "While the first model of androids being life energy draining machines didn't seem to work...he should definitely benefit." He studied him. "As I transfigure Black into a cyborg, one that will never run out of energy, he will be unstoppable."

19 stood silent, watching as Gero stepped to the side and went over to typing onto his computers. "During his conversion to a cyborg, I will install all the data that I know of every being that resides on this planet. He will know all the techniques we have recorded since we started our mission not too long ago. We already seen the strongest being there is here." Gero smirked, imagining that rampaging ape Ox had turned into last night. "He will be even stronger than that beast!"

19 chuckled. "A masterful plan, Android 20."

"Neither can I," 20 continued typing into his computer. "Neither can I." In his mind, all he could think of in order to win this current war was by using the element of surprise against his enemies. This seemed to be the only solution. And his surprise was turning into something big as he continued to work on it.

"YAWWWN!" Krillin patted his mouth as he happened to dump another body over into a pile of other bodies. "I'm getting tired of this. We've been at it all night."

Roshi, Lazuli, and Lapis have all also been stacking up bodies down onto the ground. "While Bulma and the others are out having the time of their lives looking for the dragon balls, we're here stacking unconscious people upon unconscious people." Lapis backed up.

"This is rather tiring," Lazuli brought up.

"You think it's easier for me?" Roshi asked, carrying two big men over his shoulders. "Try being over 3 centuries old and then come talk to me." Roshi tossed two heavy bodies over. It became apparent that Roshi was the one having the most trouble, as his entire wardrobe was soaked in sweat. "I can't keep this up much longer. I had more fun fighting them."

"Then why don't you stop being fools and kill them already?" a familiar voice asked from above.

Everyone from below looked into the sky, in order to see who just said that. A few of them were quite a bit surprised to see Tien hovering in the air. "Do we know you?" Lapis asked.

Tien and Chaotzu both descended onto land. "Just a few years pass and you all forget this face?" Tien asked. "Who other expert martial artist do you know that has three eyes?"

"Wait...you're that guy from the Crane School!" Krillin exclaimed. "I remember you!"

"Hm," Tien smirked. "About time." He looked over at the pile of men that were stacked by them. "I guess this has encountered everyone globally. I had a confrontation with some other crew as well."

"By the looks of it, you must have handled them just fine," Roshi remarked.

"Indeed," Tien responded. "After having my fair share of fun with them, I got even more entertainment just by watching Kakarot's son fight."

"So you got to see the boy in action did you?" Lazuli inquired.

"Yes. His father obviously trained him to be a fighter, but it was also apparent that during the battle that he has next to no battle experience at all. I feel like in the future he'll be in an entirely different league than the rest of us, though."

"Wait...where is he now?" Krillin asked. "After while his power had suddenly disappeared and we don't even know where he could be. Is he dead?"

Tien shook his head with a smirk on his face. "The great Piccolo decided to take him all for himself."

"You're joking!" Roshi exclaimed. To imagine such a demon taking off with a child of such potential, nothing but dark thoughts began to consume his mind. What if he tried to make the kid into one of his own? They'd have more than just one demon to worry about. The thought of it sent shivers down the old man's sweaty spine.

"If he is to be trained by Piccolo then he'll for sure be in an entirely different league when he's full grown!" Krillin yelled. The bald monk had to get a hold of himself before speaking once more. He wiped a large amount of sweat from his head and sighed. "So...does Piccolo plan on using the kid for himself in order to continue with world domination?"

Tien shrugged. "Wish I knew what he would do with his worse enemy's son."

"The logical thing to do would be to kill the boy," Lazuli stated out loud.

"I was thinking the exact same thing," Roshi said. "If he wants to rule the world then he's going to have to get rid of the biggest threat known to him yet. On the other hand, he could try to mold the boy into the worst thing yet."

"Chaotzu and I will keep an eye out for him," Tien responded. Slowly he started to ascend back into the sky. "I, however, recommend to each and everyone one of you that you permanently dispose of them all." Tien and Chaotzu then suddenly took off, not even bothering to listen to any response.

"I'm really starting to take upon his advice," Roshi muttered to himself, who was soaked all over with his own sweat and extremely tired.

* * *

It was early morning and the sun was shining brightly. Any other person would have just been waking up or already have wakened up just a couple of hours ago. Unlike most people, Piccolo could go on hours and hours without the need for rest. He had been towering over Ox for quite some time now. "The most logical thing to do would be to kill this brat right now before he could do any further damage in the future." Piccolo was weighing his options, something he had been doing for quite some time now. "That's the smarter thing to do, but it wouldn't be as pleasurable. To see the desperation on your father's face as I kill you will do me the most good from a sadistic standpoint." Even upon watching Ox resting peacefully, not bothering anybody, Piccolo was just there contemplating on if he should just kill the boy in his sleep or not.

'Whatever you're currently thinking about doing...I wouldn't dare in doing so right now.'

Piccolo was cut off from his train of thought thanks to the voice that had just entered his head, completely uninvited. But even still he could recognize this voice for sure. 'And why wouldn't I?' Piccolo asked, speaking back to the voice telepathically.

'The threats of the androids are currently at a minimum right now...but something far worse is to come soon.'

'Something worse?' Piccolo asked. In the back of his mind, he wondered what could there possibly be far worse than what was currently taking place. Kami didn't even respond. The guardian of earth figured he would remain silent and have Piccolo figure out what was coming. And it didn't take long for Piccolo to get it. 'WAIT!' Piccolo recalled the man Kakarot had left with a couple of weeks ago. 'You're telling me that...'

'Yes, Piccolo. He is coming back. He said he'd be coming back and I have this hunch that it will be pretty soon. I have no idea when, but you must prepare for whatever is to soon come.' Piccolo then looked onto Ox. 'That even means using everything and everyone you can in order to win this battle.'

'One question...will Kakarot be here as well?'

'We'll just have to see,' Kami responded. 'But there isn't time to waste. Your best bet is the boy. If you can increase his power a bit more, have him be able to control his power and you will have the most powerful ally imaginable.'

'Bu-' Piccolo didn't even bother replying. He could feel that Kami was no longer speaking to him. Piccolo growled, his balled fists shaking. 'So not only do I have an unknown amount of time before I fight a worse threat, but I have to make my only obstacle stronger.' Piccolo then grinned. 'Although this means I will be stronger myself.'

Ox started to fidget around, making noises as he moved. Piccolo backed away a few steps, giving the kid some space. Once Piccolo backed away the strong rays of the sun hit Ox hard and forced the boy to start to wake up.

"W-Wah..." Ox stretched himself as he lied on the green grass below him. He opened his eyes halfway and started to bring himself back up to his feet. He sat on his behind, now rubbing his eyes. "W-Where am I?" he questioned, obviously still tired, yet more so confused and out of place. Once he got his vision he looked ahead of him, there Piccolo was, his back turned away from him.

Ox looked down, having spotted something rather different. He then looked at his stomach. "T-These aren't my clothes." Ox looked back to Piccolo, who was wearing the exact same thing Ox had on, plus the cloak and turban. Slowly everything started to come back through Ox's mind. From the intrusion of the androids to the last very fight before he suddenly blacked out. "N-No..." Ox closed his eyes. "Please tell me everything that I think happened was a dream...please."

Piccolo turned around. There he studied Ox's emotions began to overcome him once more. He noticed tears began to fall from the four-year-old boy's eyes as he came to the realization that. While Piccolo truly couldn't relate to anything of what Ox was experiencing, he chalked it up to simple human sentiment. "Mommy...d-" Ox startled to sniffle. "D-daddy..." then the tears began to come down as if it Ox was the product of a waterfall. Even still he cried silently.

"That's enough boy," Piccolo said in his normal tone. Ox rubbed his eyes, but tears still somehow forced themselves out of their eyes. Noticing Ox was still crying Piccolo's patience was already beginning to wear thin with him. "I said that's enough!" Piccolo barked.

Ox nodded his head and wiped his tears. "O-okay." He sniffled once more. Slowly he started to stand up, his white cheeks nearly deep red, his eyes being a shade of that color as well. "M-my dad tells me I'm a big boy...and big boys don't cry."

"Can't say I disagree with your father's philosophy. The more you cry the more time we waste anyhow."

"What do you mean?" Ox asked, rather confused about what Piccolo was getting at. "What time are we wasting? Didn't we get rid of all the dangerous people?"

"Not sure myself," Piccolo folded his arms. "But there are things far worse coming here. And we need to be prepared by any means necessary."

"Where is my dad!" Ox nearly yelled at the top of his lungs. "He said he'd be taking a business trip. I searched nearly the entire planet and never found him. U-unless..."

"Your father's not dead," Piccolo responded. "He's not even on this planet."

"W-Wait...what?"

"Your father left with a man that calls himself his brother to a different world from here. Soon they will be back and they will put this world in even more danger than our recent enemies ever will."

"M-my dad?" Ox asked. "He wouldn't do no such thing! He loves everything here too much." And Ox was correct in that statement. This was the very planet that had molded Kakarot to be whom he was today. He had lots of ups and downs, but he'd be lying if he ever said he didn't appreciate everything that had happened to him here. And to build your own business on this world that gave you so much success...it just wouldn't make sense to not love this planet in Kakarot's shoes.

"We'll have to see when he gets here then, won't we?" Piccolo asked.

"But...but then that means I'll have to fight my dad. And I already lost my mom. I can't lose him, too! I don't want to fight him!"

"Hah!" Piccolo laughed, mocking the despondent little boy. "You might not wish to fight your father, but I've been dying to fight him again for the past few years."

"Y-You two fought before?" Ox asked, the tone of genuine curiosity in his voice.

"He never told you the stories?" Piccolo questioned with a scoff. "I was his greatest opponent. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't this close to killing your father on multiple occasions." Piccolo had his index and middle finger just nearly touching. "It'd be a pleasure to be able to fight him again."

"But I don't want that!" Ox protested.

"Well it doesn't matter what the hell you want, does it?" Piccolo shot back. "You have two options!" Piccolo raised one finger. "You can train with me and hold back the threats coming here and possibly protect the world your father supposedly admires so much." Piccolo then raised another finger. "Or two...you can reject my offer and go off...waiting for death to suddenly catch up to you. Those are your two options."

Ox took a deep breath. Even while being only four, he knew the logical option here. "Fine..." Ox gulped. "When do we start?"

Piccolo smirked and cracked his neck. "Right now!" the green man vanished out of sight.

"Huh?" Ox wasn't expecting such a thing coming from Piccolo. Thanks to his defense being completely down, he left a grand opening for Piccolo, getting decked right across the face.

Piccolo chuckled. "I might not have the leisure of killing you...but I'm sure going to have merriment beating the living hell out of you!" Piccolo didn't wait for Ox to get up and went right for the boy once more.

From not too far away, Tien happened to see everything transpire from the moment Ox had awakened. "So...something worse is coming for us?" Chaotzu asked.

"It would appear so..." Tien mentioned.

"Shouldn't we warn the others?"

"We probably should," Tien responded. "But they have enough things to worry about. You and I will focus on training so we can face this greater threat ourselves."

"Are you sure?" Chaotzu continued to question. "We could probably use their help."

"While it would be nice..." Tien grinned. "I rather have the fun all to myself." In Tien's mind, he wanted to have an even greater challenge than Kakarot had given him so many years ago. He didn't realize just how malign and merciless these new members coming were going to be. All Tien could think of at the moment was the next thrill of a battle, as any warrior would want.

* * *

Throughout space Kakarot still found himself having a rather uncomfortable ride. Before him, Dedana sat on him. During the ride, they both remained silent. Kakarot was constantly in his head to himself, graciously going through all the different scenarios he could possibly kill the Saiyans that just stabbed him in the back while he was down.

Dedana looked at the stars as they shot through space at. "This is beautiful...I've never seen any of these things before in my life. Only at night back home. I can't get over it." Dedana started to move, scrutinizing the countless stars they both passed. Getting a bit too excited, Dedana was starting to move too much. "Don't you think it's beautiful."

"Yes, marvelous," Kakarot responded sarcastically. "It'd also be marvelous if you'd stop moving around, please." The Saiyan was having a very intolerable time in this cramped space, which was not created for two people to travel inside.

"And why exactly should I stop?" Dedana challenged. "I can move around all I want to." Dedana started fidgeting a bit more, only to challenge the Saiyan.

Kakarot growled internally, losing his patience with Dedana. All he desired at the moment was a peaceful and comfortable ride back to his home planet. Since Dedana was sitting on his lap and spouting out random comments about space every few seconds, Kakarot couldn't get peace. But if she kept still and quiet, perhaps he could get comfortable. "I'm your master. So are you not supposed to be doing exactly what I'm to tell you?"

Dedana nodded. "Yes..."

"Okay, then stop moving," Kakarot demanded.

"If you were a good master then I'd stop." Dedana continued to move her body.

"Fine..." Kakarot didn't even speak. 'I'll make sure she gets the hint.' The Saiyan said internally in his mind.

Dedana chuckled. "I'm not going to stab you in the back, but I still have free will. One of the reasons Vurma wasn't a good slave 75 years ago. You see she was a very bad slave and constantly butted heads with the others and finally when they got enough of her a near w-" Dedana then froze.

"Something wrong?" Kakarot asked with a smirk on his face. He had noticed Dedana suddenly stopped talking. Kakarot had to put in a great amount of effort from laughing his tail off as he asked Dedana if something was the matter.

Dedana gulped. "I-I think I see why you wanted me to stop moving." Dedana could feel something pressing against her. Already having a good idea of what it was she just decided to not speak. The woman had felt a large poke at the lower end of her back. The Saiyan had been trying to keep it hidden for some time now, but he decided enough was enough.

Kakarot smirked. "Good. Now shut up and be still for the rest of the ride or I'll kick you out of this thing."

"Yes, sir." Dedana was as still as a statue and as quiet as a mouse, not making a peep.

"Good." Kakarot pressed his back into his seat. 'Now...true quiet. I do wonder how Chi-Chi and Ox are holding up there without me. This is the longest they've been without seeing me.'

* * *

Back on earth, Lapis, Lazuli, Krillin, Roshi, Bulma, Yajirobe, Puar, and even Oolong were each on the lookout of Kami.

"It's rather great to finally meet the new faces I see today," Kami spoke, looking over those lined up.

"Y-You're god..." Krillin gulped hard. It was hard for him or anyone else to believe from the very moment they saw him for the first time. He looked like an exact replica of Piccolo, the most malicious man known to earth.

Kami chuckled. "Yes, it is I. Lapis and Lazuli are recent students of mine. I had convinced them to bring you here because there is something very important that must be shared."

Bulma leaned over to Lapis. "Would you know what it could possibly be?" she asked.

Lapis shrugged. "I don't even know myself," he responded. "So listen."

"Hear me out and hear me out good," Kami said. Mr. Popo stood right by his side, looking onto those before him. "In an unknown amount of time, new threats will be arriving on this world. Threats far worse than what had just occurred. There is no telling when exactly it may arrive, but I know that it will be soon and we must all be ready to be against it."

"A new threat?" Krillin asked. "Already?"

"I'm afraid so," Kami responded. "They're out in space traveling right now. I am even worried that Kakarot himself may be in on the attack when they come."

"Kakarot?" Lazuli asked. "You really think he'd come back to his homeworld just to try and destroy it?"

"I, myself, don't even know. But what I do know is that the man that came here and took him is the threat. And it is highly likely that he will be bringing more."

"Wait..." Bulma went to touch the side of her forehead. There she felt over the scar that was left there after having it slammed into the wall. "You mean...Kakarot's brother?"

"Kakarot has a brother!" Roshi nearly exclaimed.

Bulma nodded. "Yes." Her plain facial expression then did a complete change. She now looked pissed, but also scared at the same time. "That bastard was the one who hit me and killed a good amount of my staff members. I had to pay a fortune just to keep those news from coming out!"

"So that's what happened," Roshi concluded. "I've been trying to figure that out myself." Slowly, everything was coming together.

"Listen. We haven't much more time to speak of this. Piccolo is currently training the son of Kakarot to control his powers so he, too, can be able to protect himself from these threats."

"So we should all be preparing, too?" Krillin asked.

"The sooner the better," Kami said. "Truly, there is absolutely no certain prediction of when they are to arrive. And for that reason, it is best you all start preparing yourself in one fashion or another. Even if you're not a martial artist you can use this knowledge to your advantage by getting far away from any main locations on this planet."

"We can never catch a break, can we?" Bulma asked.

"It would appear not," Yajirobe said. A short pause and then he resumed. "FOR YOU!" Yajirobe turned around and began to wobble his way back to where he came from. "While you're getting slaughtered, Ima be piggin' out!"

"That son of a bitch surely is encouraging..." Oolong muttered.

"Ignore him," Lapis advised the pig.

Kami just gave a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Trust me," Mr. Popo said. "He didn't mean any harm by that. And knowing him, he won't sit back and just watch all of you get killed. When the time is right he will contribute something to the fight."

"Thank you for warning us, Kami sir!" Puar yelled.

"While I as the guardian of the earth may not do much myself, the least I can do is warn you all. I have been looking over you for the longest time and after all, I've seen I confide in you all the most." He then looked over to Roshi. "Especially you. While you have some negatives...you have surely justified your actions over the years by trying to help keep the peace." Kami then looked over to Bulma. "You may wonder about your dying loved one today...Yamcha. I just want to let you know that he is in a world where he will be receiving special training. Perhaps one day that could even come in handy."

Roshi smiled. "And for a guy who looks so much like the man that slaughtered hundreds, you're not too bad yourself."

The group chuckled. "Stay safe." Kami turned around and began to walk back into his abode.

* * *

And as time passed the closer Nappa, Raditz, and Vegeta each made their way towards earth. They all traveled peacefully, but inside each of them was dying to crack up some heads and blow up some buildings. They could feel the new power surging inside thanks to their battle on Planet Anded and were ready to bring it out onto their next victims.

'It's only a matter of time...' Vegeta thought to himself. He had his mind set on all the new people he was to kill when he got to earth. And the possibility of having a Saiyan on his team, perhaps a good one, was something he thought of from time to time on his way to earth. But he'd just have to wait and see when they got there.

In due time.


	20. Greetings

During the past few weeks, the gang had been training rather hard, all in preparation for what was to come subsequent to being apprised of the assured arrival of the Saiyans. Peace had been restored for just a little while with the Red Ribbon being put out of the picture for the time being. So seeing the opportunity, people started to try and rebuild what was left remaining due to the damage that had been caused for just a short few days.

Outside rather one of the most well-known wine shops in the entire world of Planet Earth was now reduced to rubble. Many of the other ones were destroyed as well, but this was the most important one Kakarot had ever created, also being the very first wine bars he had built using his well-earned money from his past experience in the Tenkaichi Budokai.

Right outside among all the rubble, two people were just standing there. Here many people died and many buildings had been destroyed, leaving nothing but debris as nobody was yet to come and try to clean the mess. And here two lucky survivors who had fought some of the Red Ribbon Army themselves just had these looks of disappointment on their face.

Duvin, one of the workers in the wine shop was alongside Vino, the manager here. Vino was completely silent, looking into the debris of what was left of the wine shop. Duvin noticed that Vino was obviously brooding over this mess.

"Vino, sir. Is something the matter?"

Vino looked at Duvin from the corner of his eye, remaining silent still. It was still silent. Figuring that he was being kind of disrespectful towards Duvin, he decided to reply. He looked over to the worker. "Yes."

Duvin sighed. "Look, I know the shop is in bad shape. And many others as well. But this is something we're just going to have to bounce back from, don't you think? Every major or minor company has taken a big hit thanks to those damn Red Ribbon fools and they'll have to work hard to bring up their sales to what they once were before. This even includes capsule corporation. It's going to take a while for them to start running again, especially since they don't have other businesses they can provide for as of right now."

Vino nodded. "I get your point of view, but I wasn't implying that Duvin." Duvin furrowed one of his brows. What exactly was Vino implying then? He just scoffed. "It's about Kakarot. That's what worries me the most."

"Oh." Duvin chuckled a bit nervously. "Why worry about him? You and I handled ourselves just fine with some of the Red Ribbon soldiers. Kakarot is also one of the strongest people in the entire world! I'm sure he handled himself perfectly fine and is still alive. He probably just needs to take care of his family first before he can get back into the business."

"No." Vino shook his head. "Once more. It is not that." He stared at Duvin. "Duvin...have you ever seen Kakarot angry before?"

Duvin merely shook his head. "No! Of course not! When he came over to the shop a while back, it was actually my first time seeing him in person. I'm far too used to seeing that same old smirk that was on the billboards posted all around. I couldn't imagine him furious. And even so...it'd be a hell of a scene, don't you think?"

"Indeed it would," Vino agreed with Duvin's question. "And that's exactly what I don't want right now. He compromised, as well as sacrificed a lot to get to where he is today. Ask any successful person you may know and they will tell you just that. Imagine how angry Kakarot may be when he not only finds out over 90% of our income may go right down the drain, but his wife is also dead."

"W-Wait!" Duvin nearly shouted. "You're joking, right? His wife...Chi-Chi? DEAD?" Duvin almost couldn't believe it. "I've heard stories of her! She's one of the toughest people I've heard of! Don't even get me started on Gyumao..." the man shook his head with his eyes fixated on the ground. All of the news that he was being given was hard to believe, though he had no other option.

"I went over to Kakarot's residency not too long ago. I wasn't in the least bit surprised to find out that his home was in pieces, along with some other metallic junk as well. But what shook me the most was when I saw a cold corpse, that was beginning to rot."

Duvin gulped. "Chi-Chi..." He looked over to the side, a bit sad for Kakarot's family. "B...But what about his son?"

Vino shrugged his shoulders. "I never saw the kid there. Him being a simple four-year-old...mother dead. It's more than likely that he's been killed as well."

"Aw man..." Duvin fell over on his butt. "This is bad."

Vino folded his arms. "Indeed it is."

* * *

Even though in the minds of Duvin and Vino, they presumed Ox, Kakarot's son, to be dead. He very well wasn't. Even though currently it looked like he was to very well die thanks to the beating he had received from Piccolo. A swollen black eye, bruises everywhere with blood leaking from his nose and lips. The kid was panting extremely hard. Not once had his father trained him remotely as hard as Piccolo was doing unto him. "T-That was intense." Ox couldn't even stand upright anymore. His wobbly knees looked like they were going to give up on him at any second now.

Piccolo was on his two feet, himself actually having been quite beaten up. "While you have a lack of true fighting experience, you make up for that by being a good partner," Piccolo responded. "It was a good thing I didn't have to start off with the basics as your father has already taught you. Even with the little time left, it surely came in handy."

Ox nodded. "I think so, too!" He looked up to Piccolo. "You know...even for as short as we have been training...I'm glad to have a sparring partner equal to my dad. It really brings me back."

Piccolo scoffed. "Don't think I do this to make some bond that you miss with your father, boy. I need this for the greater good."

"Of the entire world!" Ox exclaimed.

"No, but for myself," Piccolo responded. "When it's said and done everything will be back to how it once was. Your father and I will continue to be enemies. And seeing how your loyalties most definitely ride with your father, you will eventually be a future enemy as well." Piccolo then folded his arms, having finished speaking. Looking onto Ox he had caught how the boy was quite a bit disappointed, with his head faced toward the ground.

"My father doesn't truly believe in good and bad. When I asked him about it he would just say that it's merely an artificial construct created by people to restrict others from their true personalities."

Piccolo smirked. "The more you tell me about your father, kid, the more I secretly think we're a bit alike in a sense."

"But I believe there is good and bad!" Ox shouted. "It doesn't hold you back! In fact, it shows your true colors. Piccolo...you haven't done anything to show you're evil. You told me these stories of how you murdered countless innocents and even ruled the world at one time."

"Because I did," Piccolo responded. "With an iron fist. Everyone knew better than to even try to oppose me!"

"But that wasn't you! That was your father. You're merely his reincarnation. And not one you never told me that you've killed someone who didn't deserve it since you've been reincarnated."

Piccolo smirked. "But indeed I have. One of Kakarot's closest friends...and your grandfather."

Ox's eyes shot open. "W-What!?" The little boy shot up onto his two small feet. "You mean to tell me that was you who deprived me of ever meeting my grandfather?"

Piccolo nodded, with a cocky grin on his face. "It was I, kid." Piccolo then turned around. "And now you know...my true colors."

Ox closed his eyes and shook his head. "I-I can't even be mad at you. I never knew him personally. I just heard stories about him. I guess tha-"

"Quiet kid!" Piccolo interrupted. Piccolo was silent for a bit. In the back of his mind, he could feel a grand power, multiples of them, that had all just arrived. One of the powers he had felt before, the same familiar one that came to recruit Kakarot. The other two, however...they were on an entirely different level. 'Shit!" The green man's antennas perked up. "They're here!"

"Huh?" Ox looked onto Piccolo, who was looking into the air. Going to sense whatever Piccolo was looking for, Ox shut his eyes as well, looking to sense something. "I-I sense them, too!"

"There's three of them," Piccolo responded. "And I can't sense your father from none of them." His concerns for Kakarot grew lower and lower at the present moment. With the extremely overwhelming powers of these extra two beings, Piccolo knew not if he would be able to enter the fight and come out alive.

"They're so strong..." Ox gulped. "Far stronger than even my dad!"

Piccolo was sweating profusely. Raditz's strength alone was enough to nearly make him fall over on his knees. From afar he could feel the extreme pressure of power being put off by the two stronger Saiyans: Nappa and Vegeta. Piccolo knew he was nowhere even in their league.

"Look!" Ox pointed to the sky.

Piccolo turned around. Coming from afar were both Chaotzu and Tien. The tri-clops and his small partner in crime came flying along directly at Piccolo and Ox. Tien softly landed before the two.

"You again," Piccolo mumbled.

"I happened to sense the intruders a while back. Started making my way towards you as soon as I felt their powers."

"We just got a hold onto theirs," Piccolo responded.

Tien looked into the air, which was now surrounded by nothing but dark energy. "To be honest with you, our chances of survival are next to none when it comes to these guys. I don't even think three years worth of nonstop training would still be able to allow us to be on par with them."

"We still have a few hours until they land somewhere," Piccolo said. He looked over to Ox. "That should give you more than enough time to be back at one hundred percent. Myself included."

"The others sensed the power as well," Tien informed.

"The others?" Piccolo asked.

"Yes. I didn't think these guys would be this powerful. Whoever they are, Kakarot is nothing compared to them."

"If we fight together we can do something!" Ox exclaimed.

"That's just about our best bet right now," Tien said. "Just two weeks training wasn't enough to fight these fools for sure!"

"W-Wait..." Piccolo was sweating more. "There's another one, just behind the three! It's as strong as one of the other one..." the green man had an even harder time calming himself. If they were all in on this, then what could they possibly do to measure up to these guys? The small, bright hole of survival was closing in by the second.

"Could it be my dad?" Ox asked.

"It's not," Piccolo answered. "But someone entirely different."

* * *

"This is not what I signed up for," Krillin complained.

At Kame house the gang was all there, actually taking an off day. Luckily this was the day for them as they didn't have to worry about being tired from training all day. Like Piccolo and Tien, they too managed to get a feel of the energies that were arriving to their planet. Even from the great distance they were at, the power levels were far too huge to simply avoid.

"Even from just a couple of weeks of training, it wouldn't be enough," Lazuli stated.

"I brought some Senzu Beans just in case things got really bad," Lapis mentioned, holding up a pouch.

"I have a feeling we're definitely going to need them," Krillin sighed with a nervous laugh. At moments like these, he would try to bring down the tension with his unsolicited humor, though it only made things worse.

"It's best we meditate for a few hours before heading off to a safe spot where they'll find us. We need to be mentally prepared," Roshi advised.

"I'm in all agreement to this," Lazuli said. "It's been a while since I've cleared my mind."

The martial artists all sat down in a circle and closed their eyes. They knew what was up ahead just hours up from now and they knew that they should have done whatever it took to prepare themselves for the little time they had left to get ready.

* * *

Back in space Kakarot and Dedana continued their travels to Earth. "If anything we're just thirty minutes to a quarter of an hour," Kakarot spoke, talking about how far behind he was of the Saiyans. "And someone else is just right on their tails, going right for them as well."

"Really?" Dedana questioned.

"Once we land on Planet Earth, I want you to be a bit further away from the fight and observe it. If I need another one of those senzu beans then I will give off a signal."

"Will do," Dedana responded.

Kakarot cracked his neck. While a bit worried about the safety of his wife and son, he had many other priorities. His main objective was to render Raditz and the others payback for their duplicitous actions. He wasn't aware of just how ruthless and conniving his own people could be. After getting a glimpse of that, he wanted nothing more but to render them a punishment just as bad. 'They will not get away with their backstabbing ways.'

* * *

In the pod that was on the Saiyan's trail, Kiwi was inside, smirking from ear to ear. "I've just had about enough of Vegeta's antics. Once I kill him off here I can simply report to Lord Freeza that he has gone rebellious. That'd be the perfect excuse to get rid of that slimy bastard." Kiwi laughed. "JUST HOLD ON MONKEYS!"

On Kami's look-out, he could feel their presence all closing in. Some good time has gone by and he was expecting a lot of arrivals at any moment.

Mr. Popo could see the worried look on Kami's face from a mile away. "Kami, sir. Are you okay?" Mr. Popo knew very well what the answer was before he even bothered to ask.

"No," Kami responded. "I worry for this planet, Mr. Popo." He continued to look down from above. "For years I have looked over this world. And it feels that more years of calamity has taken over those of peace. No matter who comes in to disrupt the evil that takes place here, something else always eventually comes along to try and test our willpower once more."

Mr. Popo nodded in agreement. "Yes. You're one hundred percent right, Kami. As for the other guardians that have passed through, and for as long as I have been their servant, they all felt the same way. While peace always prevails, some other evil comes back. One of the guardians before you told me that sometime, sooner or later, the cycle will end."

"Yes," Kami responded. "But perhaps not in the way we want it to. Sometime it will be the last straw. And when that straw is picked, it will all be over."

"You musn't think like that," Mr. Popo advised.

"I know, I know..." Kami sighed. "But too much has transpired for me to think otherwise. I can't even help it." the seasoned guardian turned around. With the assistance of his walking cane, Kami made it inside his home. "I will be inside."

Kami left Mr. Popo to himself, who was a bit discouraged from Kami's remarks. And even still he knew what the seasoned guardian had said held a great bit of truth inside. Mr. Popo simply wished it was different.

* * *

Down in the wastelands, Roshi, Krillin, Lapis, and Lazuli, all decided to meet up there. "So now we wait..." Roshi said. All of them looked into the clouds of the early morning sky that day. Raditz, Vegeta, and Nappa had all just entered the atmosphere. Falling behind them was Cui.

In what used to be one of the major cities, East City, was where the three Saiyans had landed. Three giant craters were formed. After the landing, the trio each exited their pods.

Raditz took a look around. "Hm. This is odd." He recalled when he arrived here not too long ago that the place looked entirely different. It seemed that the planet itself had declined in his temporary absence.

Nappa looked around, as well as Vegeta, getting a feel and look for the planet. The two had never been on earth before, so they decided to take it in before they'd begin to mess it up further.

"Kakarot grew up in this mud ball?" Nappa asked, trying to refrain himself from laughing. He had seen one of the most unfruitful planets looking better than this in his 50+ years of life.

"It wasn't like this when I originally landed here," Raditz mentioned. "There were tall, great buildings when I first got here." He could only imagine just what happened.

Vegeta scoured the area. "Now all I see is debris and dust. Among some body parts even."

Raditz clicked his scouter. He was a bit surprised by the readings he got, or the lack of them "Just a month ago when I landed here, there were hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people in this world. The number has been reduced greatly."

"If I had to assume, there must have been some type of infighting in this world," Nappa commented.

"While it may seem that way, it makes our stay here much shorter. We should do away with the entire population in half the time it would originally take us."

Vegeta smirked. "My, my...won't you look at the sky." Through the air, he spotted this white circular pod shooting down like a falling comet.

"What is it?" Nappa asked.

"Is...that a space pod?" Raditz questioned, looking closely.

Vegeta chuckled. "It appears so. That bastard Kiwi more than likely followed us here."

"Why would he even think about doing that?" Raditz was a bit confused, though suspicious at once. It was either one or two options: he wanted to come help them get rid of the inhabitants...or he was going to make an attempt at killing them all off and finishing their own job.

"Bastard wants to spoil all our fun. Hn!" The bald Saiyan smacked his lips.

"He's nothing to even worry about anymore," Vegeta said.

PIPIPIPIPI

"What readings are you getting?" Nappa asked Raditz, who was scanning power-levels.

"I'm getting some north of here," the long-haired Saiyan responded. "None of their power-levels exceed that of 900." Raditz just chuckled. If even the strongest of fighters were this week, then he and his crew would pass through this planet like a breeze.

"Then let's go have some fun." Nappa was the first to hop into the sky. "Aw, man!" He started to fly. "I never felt this light before!" He had been on countless planets and practically all of them had a stronger gravity than earth itself, which felt like there was no gravitational pull to begin with.

Raditz and Vegeta both followed from behind. They as well could feel the light feeling of traveling through the air, though neither commented on it. To them two, this made all the more sense why the average person here was as weak as they were.

* * *

"They're on their way here," Krillin said. All of them were in a green field, surrounded by nothing but high grass and a mild heavy blow of wind. They had prepared themselves and were ready to fight now.

"We can feel them on their way," Lazuli said.

"I don't want to be much of a Debby Downer here, but we have no chances of winning this."

"WHO'S TO SAY WE SHOULDN'T AT LEAST TRY?"

Krillin, Lapis, Lazuli, and Roshi all looked behind them. Up above were four new guests coming

"N-No way!" Krillin shouted. "I-It's Piccolo!"

Chaotzu, Ox, Piccolo, and Tien all landed just behind the gang. "Looks like we've made it just in time."

Roshi looked over Piccolo, who just stood there. "I didn't think it'd ever come to this," the old man said. "Having to partner up with you in order to defeat a stronger enemy."

Piccolo scoffed. "Don't get used to it. It's only temporary."

"I-is that Kakarot's kid?" Krillin asked, nearly taken aback.

"I'm Ox," the four-year-old greeted himself. "Nice to meet you all."

"He's certainly nicer than Kakarot, isn't he?" Chaotzu joked. Comparing to how Kakarot acted when he was a brat to his son, the two were totally different.

Krillin chuckled. "He's the second strongest person here! And he's only how old again?"

"Four," Ox answered.

Krillin nearly fell over. "You've got to be kidding me. In that case, Kakarot really is an alien."

"Huh?" Ox cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"The baldy means that Kakarot is from a race of warriors!" a voice from above shouted.

Everyone's attention turned to the three Saiyans: Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta.

"That's them," Lazuli said.

"It would seem like you've been getting ready for our arrival," Raditz spoke. The long-haired Saiyan laughed a bit as he came down softly to the ground.

"Before we continue. We should probably get this out of the way. What exactly do you want?" Roshi asked.

"Of all people and this old geezer is asking the questions?" Vegeta chuckled.

"Hey," Nappa looked over to Vegeta. As soon as he touched down, his eyes shifted to the most abnormal looking figure in the area, being none other than Piccolo, of course. Just within a second of seeing him, he noted something quite familiar with the man. "That green man over there...he's a Namekian."

"Oh? That would make sense as to his rather abnormal power-level then."

"Wait..." Ox looked up to Piccolo. "You're an alien like my dad?"

Piccolo remained silent. All his life he went without this knowledge. To have intruders, all with the intentions of taking over his planet, reveal his unknown origins, made him feel a bit bewildered. At the very least he knew where he come from.

"It has been told across the universe that these green men possess strange powers beyond any other normal alien," Raditz spoke. "If he truly is a Namekian."

Piccolo just smirked. He figured it was best to take this newfound information with a sense of pride. "Heh. Thanks for the info. Thanks to you fools I now more of my very own lineage."

Nappa ignored his comment and recorded over the power-levels.

PIPIPIPIPI

Chaotzu: 175.

Roshi: 200

Krillin: 260-

Tien: 275

Lazuli: 339-

Lapis: 352

Ox: 445

Piccolo: 560

"Fools!" Raditz laughed aloud, having read them all just as Nappa did. "You have no chance in hell against us with battle powers such as those. Even combined you wouldn't manage to pull a single strand of hair off my body."

"If you have learned anything from Kakarot then you would know that these things are worthless. It's likely that these fools know how to suppress their power-levels, as well." On Planet Anded, he observed as much as he could when Kakarot fought, even with the lack of closeness they had while in separate parts of the planet. He could see Kakarot was capable of forcing his power to alter at will, so it would only make sense that these earthlings, no matter how weak, would be capable of doing the same.

"Speaking of my daddy, where is he!?" Ox yelled. He was expecting to see his father with the trio, though the man was nowhere to be found at all.

Raditz looked over Ox. The boy looked exactly like his father, though the obvious Saiyan tail answered all his questions before he could even bother to ask. With that confirmation, he knew without a doubt that the little boy had to be his brother's son. "Oh, you must be my great little nephew. Sorry to break it to you kid, but we killed your father on our last mission."

"Say what?!" Piccolo exclaimed. Everyone else had a reaction either equal or of more surprise than Piccolo himself.

"M-My daddy...d-dead?"

"You just take away the kid's father to kill him?" Tien asked.

"Where the hell is your honor!" Roshi yelled.

"Idiots. Compared to us Kakarot was a mere weakling. Back when we were to depopulate another world he was nothing more than a liability." Raditz looked onto Ox. "Brat, you should have seen it. The desperation in his eyes when my comrade killed him. He lied down in his own pool of blood, bewildered. Why would we, one of his own, kill him with next to no hesitation?" Raditz had a hard time holding in some laughter, not just by explaining the situation itself, but the horrible look plastered on his nephew's face was nothing short of hysterical to him.

"Hahaha!" Nappa snapped his fingers. "You should have also seen the look on his face as he nearly begged Raditz to not leave."

"It was pathetic," Vegeta spat.

"You guys are monsters!" Chaotzu shouted.

Piccolo looked to the side of him. He noticed Ox wasn't doing so well with keeping his composure. He knew well enough the boy had anger issues, and to start off the fight with everything he had wasn't a very good notion. "Kid...calm down."

Ox was starting to get furious. "D-Didn't you hear him? He killed my dad!" Piccolo noted Ox's index finger shaking, being pointed at the shorter man of the trio.

"I think we started something," Nappa joked.

Vegeta looked onto Ox. Having just recently started to be able to sense ki himself, the top Saiyan noticed that Ox's power was starting to silently rise. "Say, don't we how many cultivars do we have left over?"

"Damn!" Nappa slapped his face. "I forgot to get some more. I only have four left over."

"No matter," Raditz said. "Four is more than enough to put all of these weaklings over the edge in the midst of battle."

"I must agree," Vegeta said. "Plant them, Nappa. Let's see just how well they could hold themselves during this little scuffle."

Nappa pulled out a little jar, with three little green seed looking things inside. Nappa popped open the jar and crouched down, going into poking four holes into the ground. "They should plant well in the soil here."

"Calm it, kid..." Piccolo nudged Ox. He was getting worse than before. He didn't want to outright scold the boy just before they were to have to fight for their lives.

Ox was itching to start a fight with those who had to do with the death of his dad. The kid's face was beginning to get red, his anger taking over.

"What's wrong with him?" Krillin asked. Ox's anger was far too obvious and anyone of the group would be a fool to not see.

"I feel like we're going to see," Lapis suggested.

All of them could feel Ox's power-level rising as seconds passed. The only image in the boy's head was his father, dead, lying down in his pool of blood just like his mother was when she died before his eyes.

Out from the ground plopped out from under the ground. Four green, short little mischievous little monsters, ready to attack something.

"Say. Four cultivars and eight of them."

"Two can take on one per turn," Vegeta suggested with a shrug.

"That'd be their best bet anyway," Raditz spoke.

"We're not playing into your little game!" Piccolo shouted. "We're going to end this as quickly as possible."

"Shut up!" Vegeta exclaimed. To be yelled at by someone inferior to him was an insult, so he had to nip that in the bud. He nodded over to Raditz, giving him the signal.

"Attack!" Raditz ordered.

One of the cultivars went after Krillin and Roshi, who were both side by side. Ox, finally having his chance to fight, decided to jump in. "RAHHHHHH!" The boy powered up. Having his anger to fuel into his strength, he was more than strong enough.

"What the hell is this?!" Raditz calculated Ox's power. "That brat's power is at 1,800!"

Ox punched one of the cultivars as hard as he could, literally knocking the wind out of it. The green little animal fell right over on its face.

"Kekeke!" the other three realized something was wrong that instant. Their attention was turned to the angered boy now, who just killed one of their own as if it was nothing.

"Jump him!" Raditz yelled at the three. He saw from the moment he laid eyes on his nephew that he wasn't going to bother to team up with him. Ox had already chosen his side, so now he had to die with the other weaklings. As much as it secretly pained Raditz to kill off his own family, what had to be done, had to be done.

The remaining three all jumped onto Ox, who was just ready. One of the cultivars hopped into the air, looking to come from above. Ox balled his fist and hopped up as well, executing a bone-crushing uppercut to the Saibaiman's chin.

"What power!" Roshi said, nothing short but amazed.

"I felt his extreme power before, but I never saw him in action," Krillin commented.

Ox touched down on the ground. The other cultivar that had fallen over came and jumped in, joining the other two that were to attack. Ox kicked one of them right in the chest, knocking it on its back. With great speed Ox stuck his two elbows on the side, hitting the other two directly in the face.

"This kid is insane," Nappa remarked. "For a young Saiyan, he has some skill."

"No ordinary Saiyan child should be this strong," Raditz said. He looked back to the others. "The only person I know remotely this powerful around this age was you, Vegeta."

Vegeta stared at the boy. 'Something's different about this brat, definitely.'

The four cultivars were all on the ground, moaning, and hurting, making weird noises that couldn't even be deciphered. "He didn't hit any of them more than three times and they're struggling to get back up!" Chaotzu said onto the others.

"He's some type of prodigy," Lapis commented.

Raditz was beginning to get frustrated. These were the best cultivars they've managed to grow in a while and they were all being embarrassed by some four-year-old brat. "All of you get the hell up and attack again!"

The cultivars, not wanting to get destroyed by their commanders for insubordination, got up. Slowly they all formed a circle around the furious kid. With the small beating they were just given, the planted fighters now had a point to prove.

"Now kill him," Raditz demanded.

The four all shot towards Ox, ready to kill him that moment. An aura was starting to surround Ox for a moment. "YAHHHHH!"

Letting out a loud yell, a barrier surrounded him. The cultivars weren't able to back up now and were blown to pieces thanks to Ox's sheer power.

"What...in...the...hell." Raditz was at a near loss for words. "He's stronger than his own grandfather was..." the only type of children with such powers would be one of the prodigies of the Saiyan raise. And that only prodigy back then was Vegeta himself. At this rate, Ox would surpass the strength of any Saiyan back then. Raditz knew this would prove troublesome, so he had to go for sure.

"It's too obvious," Vegeta answered. "Saiyans mixing with earthlings forms a superior breed. His power increases with his emotions."

Raditz stepped up to the plate. He saw that the cultivars weren't going to get the job done, so he had to settle things himself. "Then I'll gladly rid of you. From Uncle to Nephew...I'm going to enjoy beating you into tears."

Ox remained with the same angered look on his face. "I won't forgive you!" Despite this man being his uncle, he didn't care. The only people he had relations with were his father and mother. And as far as he knew, they were both dead. Nothing was going to stop him from getting his vengeance.

Kiwi watched from afar. "I should have brought something to eat. This is truly getting good. Hehe."

* * *

Out in space Kakarot was starting to enter the earth's stratosphere. "We're almost there...hold on, Ox...Chi-Chi." While his son was still alive, Kakarot had no idea what had transpired on earth. But he'd find out when he gets there for sure.


	21. Familiar Faces

With every consecutive second, Kakarot and Dedana were both inching closer to earth. Time however surely wasn't going to wait for them as a battle between Ox and his uncle was to commence in mere moments.

The four-year-old kid and Raditz were both in the middle of Nappa and Vegeta, who was on one side, while the earthlings were on the other. All of them were spectating, awaiting the battle between the two blood linked fighters Comparing Ox and Raditz in height was as similar as comparing an elephant to a baby t-rex. But the kid had heart, willing to fight in his father's honor.

"You should relish this moment, kid!" Nappa called out. "You've got Saiyan blood in ya'! Surely you'll have some fun!"

The mere face of anticipation Raditz had on his face had intimidated Ox, as well as the other earthlings watching. Running back would be an act of cowardice and it was far too late to turn around now. "First move is yours," Raditz said. He stood upright calmly, expecting the kid to attack first. The high power he read on his nephew earlier had brought to him some concerns, though the emotionless look on his face showed that he seemingly had none. Like any confident Saiyan warrior, Raditz was going to take care of the problem in his way.

Ox looked over how Raditz was standing, studying his stature. Remaining as calm as he possibly could on the outside, inside his heart was pumping so fast that it could have burst at any time. Looking at his uncle's face, he noted a distant similarity between the two. Imagining the face of his father's had sparked a light under the boy after having recollected the Saiyans saying that they had killed his father.

Merely acting on instincts, Ox hopped off his back foot, going right for Raditz, his fist cocked back. Raditz's smile of pleasure appeared as the battle between the two had finally commenced. 'Finally...' Ox was making his way quickly at Raditz, although the long-haired Saiyan could very well keep up with his eyes. Seeing Ox having placed his fist behind his back, Raditz went to pick up his elbow in order to block the boy's movement.

Just before Ox was to supposedly even touch Raditz's arm, his entire physical being vanished. Raditz's guard was altered a bit, as he didn't quite expect Ox to vanish the way he did. Ox re-appeared behind Raditz and rammed his elbow into the taller man's spine, forcing the older fighter to stumble forward a bit, grabbing at his stricken area.

"Wow..." Krillin mumbled. He didn't even get to see Ox move so quickly with such agility. He was left blinking, trying to picture the swift motions in his own head.

"He's actually standing up to him," Roshi pointed out.

"Don't speak too soon!" Raditz swiftly turned around, lifting his left leg into the air. Raditz could feel the heel of his boot make contact with something as he aimed his foot at Ox. Said boy had received a hit directly to the face that sent him sliding on his side. Digging the tip of his fingers into the dirt had slowed him down until he eventually flipped over on his knees, performing a handspring.

"RAH!" Ox had shot forth an energy attack for Raditz.

Raditz made a quick bounce into the sky, having evaded Ox's attack. He had his eyes glued to the boy whilst charging one attack in his hand he had fired one right back.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!" Piccolo warned the boy.

Ox realized that this attack would do some serious damage had it hit him. As fast as he could, Ox turned around and jumped. While managing to avoid the majority of the attack, the explosion that had taken place directly behind him affected his landing. The shock wave forced Ox into flying just mere inches above the ground.

Raditz watched as Ox flew away and just hovered in the sky, waiting. "Hm." Raditz faded out of sight as well. Roshi looked over to Piccolo, noticing that even he was having a hard time into keeping up with Raditz's movements.

Ox flipped over on his two feet and immediately looked up across from him, expecting to see Raditz not so far away. "Behind you!" Following the voice behind him, Ox slowly started to turn his head. "YAH!" Raditz rammed his knee into the little boy's face.

A bit of blood came from Ox's face as he was knocked over on his back.

"His power..." Tien noted. "It's decreasing." This wasn't much of a surprise to him at all. He remembered that night with the androids. That big spike in power that Ox had just waned down. Much of the same was transpiring here.

Raditz raised his left hand up to his scouter. By the way the boy was fighting, he couldn't have retained a power of 1,800 by this point. "Hm." PIPIPIPI. "Odd...his power's diminishing back to where it was before."

"That is odd," Nappa said. "I thought he was showing his true power." He started to rub his bald head, pondering on what exactly could be up with the kid.

'I have a feeling that may only be a glimpse of it,' Vegeta secretly thought in his head.

Ox wiped the incessant blood that was coming from his lip. "T-This guy...he's too strong!"

"Enough of this!" Piccolo yelled. He knew that if he just stood and watched the boy fight, he'd meet an inevitable death. He needed everyone alive for chances of survival, so he wasn't going to stick around watching any longer. "Everyone unleash your true power!"

Seeing no other option as to how they were going to take out the weakest member of the trio, the gang all did as Piccolo had advised. Raditz looked over to each of them to check their powers with his scouter that continuously beeped out loud. Raditz read each and every one of them. He expected them to grow stronger just a bit, though it was becoming much more than he had primarily anticipated. "He's gone up to 210...he's at 300..." Raditz continued to look over the growth of each of their strengths. "390...400...452...469..." Raditz had checked up on Ox. "his power is at 645...still too much." Raditz then spotted the Namekian. "700."

"With our combined powers we can all take him on at once!" Lazuli yelled.

Raditz growled. 'My power-level is only at 1,600. I'm no mathematician, but I know their numbers surpass my own.' Slowly, Raditz eyeballed each and every one of the gang before he decided to make his move. 'I've got to take one of them out, and quickly.'

Raditz started to begin running on foot, going to try and subtract the numbers into his favor. "If it's a fight you want, then don't expect me to hold back!"

"Let's go!" Roshi yelled. Everyone got into motion and attacked the Saiyan at once.

Ox got on his feet as well, going to contribute his piece with the seven others that were going to fight just one Saiyan.

Raditz completely ignored Ox, having flown right past him. Ox didn't even see what had come from him, Raditz having moved with such quickness. The Saiyan kneed Chaotzu in the stomach, having the paled skin miniature martial artist nearly choke on his own saliva. Raditz quickly turned around, grabbing a hold of Lapis' oncoming fist, swatted his arm away and elbowed him dead center in the nose. Lazuli came and kicked him directly in the chest plate, which only elicited a pleasurable laughter from the Saiyan prior to him ramming his fist into her thigh. The pressure of Raditz's slightly suppressed strike nearly broke the woman's leg into two.

"Hiya!" Tien punched Raditz in the cheek. Coming from behind was Roshi as well, giving Raditz a hard punch to the abdomen. Krillin assisted to, kneeing Raditz on his hip. All of their attacks only managed to do minor damage, seeing how Raditz didn't show an ounce of displeasure.

"Out of the way!" Piccolo yelled from above, high in the sky. He had his hands stretched out, ready to blast their opponent head-on.

The three quickly backed away, letting Piccolo get a clear, good shot. "RAH!" Piccolo rendered Raditz a giant ball of ki. Looking from below, Raditz merely gave off a quick smirk, knowing he was going to be able to counter attack it easily.

"Let's see how you like this!" Raditz shot a ki attack up and forth towards Piccolo. The green man growled while awaiting the attack to inch towards him. He was going to have to be quick and do something.

Krillin, Tien, and Roshi were all a bit stunned. They expected Raditz to be a force to deal with, of course, but at the same time he just took on all three of their hits like it was nothing and proceeded to attack Piccolo, ignoring the others.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you pests..." Raditz quickly glanced at all of them. "Your turn! Buahahahahahaa!"

A bright light could be seen showing from Vegeta and Nappa's eyes, Raditz having blasted the three bald fighters away from him simultaneously. Krillin, Tien, and Roshi were all sent sliding across the ground.

Ox came from behind, as fast as he could, although without having Raditz take notice as well. Raditz stood erect, grinning. 'I know where you are...' He raised his leg, rendering Ox a back kick. The four-year-old boy came to a halt in flight. Raditz had marked Ox in the chest.

Raditz quickly hopped into the air. Looking below him he saw the twins Lapis and Lazuli attempting to attack him. Raditz re-directed his flight and began to head right towards them head first. Lapis and Lazuli couldn't believe the speed at which Raditz was coming at them. The twins just barely managed to step back in time. Raditz had placed his two fists in the ground below, just almost grazing them

Raditz, having his two hands deep into the ground, was remaining idle in a handstand position. Noticing the very short distance that Lapis and Lazuli were on the side of him, Raditz couldn't hold back his pleasure. Stretching both of his legs out as fast and as hard as he could, he hit both Lazuli and Lapis in the chin, knocking them both back.

Raditz pulled his hand out the ground and flipped over on his two feet. "Hahaha..." looking at how he had them all barely able to get back up couldn't have made him any happier. The gap in power was just far too great and everyone fighting knew this. Piccolo came back down, leaking blood from one of his shoulders. From behind Nappa and Vegeta could be heard laughing their behinds off.

Raditz didn't hold back anything either and started cackling like a madman once he caught sight of Piccolo's blood coming from the appendage that was detached from his very own body. "Oh, my did you lose your arm?! Hahahahaah! Take this as a true sign! Your deaths are truly coming to a near."

Piccolo was obviously displeased at Raditz's comment. "You won't get away with that!" Piccolo put a bit of energy into regenerating his arm back. A bunch of slime and blood appeared on his arm that he had just regrown. Piccolo wiggled it around for a bit in order to get a feel for it. "It's going to take more than that." Having to regrow any part of his body took a bit out of Piccolo, though he knew that he had no other option but to continue fighting. He wasn't going to let a bit of fatigue stop him until the fat lady sang.

"Heh." Raditz grinned. "Then I'll just continue ripping it off until you tire of growing it back!" Raditz raised his hand into the air. "It's time to do away with one you fools!"

"Not so fast!" Lapis yelled from behind.

"What is this?" Raditz started to turn around. Seeing Lapis come at him with a fist, Raditz just grabbed it with ease. "Trying to get a step up on me, eh?" Raditz reeled Lapis in and rammed his forehead into the young man's face. This force of impact left a huge mark on Lapis' head as he held it tightly. Raditz still held Lapis' hand. With his free hand, Raditz charged a ki attack in his hand. "I guess you'll be the first of the weak lot to fall."

"LAPIS!" Lazuli darted at her brother as quickly as possible. She knew that the following blow her brother was to receive would be a fatal one. She just had to get there in time to save him.

Raditz took a glimpse at Lazuli and laughed right at her as he placed his hands on Lapis' stomach. The others just watched. Once Lapis felt Raditz's hand touch his stomach, he immediately felt something else.

Lapis gasped, seizing to fly that instant. Raditz was laughing, as he had blown a hole directly through Lapis' stomach. The male twin was a bit shocked. At first, it entirely didn't feel like something had been blown through him until he looked down and seen it for himself.

"Your time has come up." Raditz looked at each and every other individual, all who were transfixed by what had just taken place. "Rejoice these last moments of your life!" With that said, Raditz had decked Lapis as hard as he could, breaking the man's jaw in the process. Lapis had fallen over on his back, a good amount of blood falling beneath him.

"HAhahahaha! Now that's what I like!"

"One down," Nappa called out.

"And only seven more to go..." Raditz finished. "Hehe..."

* * *

"Amazing," Kiwi mumbled. 'I just forgot how ruthless these Saiyans could be in the heat of battle. Good thing I remembered before I happen to take out Vegeta myself." The purple-skinned alien had already made up his mind. No longer was he going to let Vegeta breathe a single breath from now on. He had enough with the disrespect and decided to end it all, starting with ending the life of Vegeta and his inferior comrades.

As Kakarot was entering the atmosphere of Planet Earth, he could feel a power suddenly drop. 'Someone's power just dropped like he died immediately...' He closed his eyes, going on to look for the other powers he could sense as he was making way closer to Planet Earth. 'Ox...Piccolo...Raditz...Nappa...' Having realized what all these energies were doing in the same area, Kakarot knew the jig was up. 'They're fighting...' The saiyan was getting a bit impatient now. Any second his son or arch-rival could very well end up like him back on Planet Anded...especially if Vegeta was currently present, too.

"So..." Raditz looked at the others that were still alive. "Who wants next?"

Lapis was in temporary shock as he lied, soaking in his own blood. Lazuli herself had no words. She could in a way feel his body starting to get cold from afar. "Son of a bitch..." the blonde's nose was fuming. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" the knot in her stomach and the heaviness of her legs just vanished. The rage that built up internally encouraged the woman to fight, for her brother's name.

Without hesitation, Lazuli fired away well over a dozen ki attacks for her saiyan target below.

Raditz just took it all in, not being harmed by the weak attacks in the slightest. "Such a fruitless attempt will just shorten your lifespan ten fold!" Raditz yelled as he flew right passed all the energy attacks that rained down on him. Dodging all of them at once with genuine ease, Raditz came on through, rendering Lazuli a deadly uppercut to the chin. Lazuli swore she could have had her tooth chipped after having been given such a hard punch like that.

"I've had enough of this!" Tien growled. The three-eyed warrior shot up, coming at Raditz from below. He like the others knew that his attempt to take this madman down would more than likely be in vain, but what other choice did he have? While Raditz was a bit too focused on Lazuli, he didn't quite notice Tien, who got a hold of Raditz's ankle. "Gotcha!"

Raditz looked below at his victim. "And what the hell was that supposed to do?" Raditz charged a ki of energy in the palm of his hand and blasted Tien dead on in the face.

"AGH!" Tien was forcibly slammed right into the ground thanks to the power of Raditz's simple attack. Bones in the lower section of his back were fractured from instant impact.

"Tien!" Chaotzu cried.

Tien was on his back, groaning in sheer pain. He was grabbing at the ground below, digging his fingers into the very soil of planet earth. But none of that happened to assuage his pain that he was currently enduring. The man had the insane urge just to let out an ear-piercing scream, though he prevented himself from doing so by biting his tongue, which started to bleed because of it.

Chaotzu was a bit worried about his friend, who was obviously suffering. Hearing Raditz's maniacal laughter from above was not only intimidating, but it pissed the little guy off, too. Chaotzu stuck his finger out for Raditz. "Dodon-Pa!"

Raditz stuck his palm out, letting Chaotzu's attack hit him dead on. A huge cloud of smoke was formed due to Chaotzu's attack. Raditz himself wasn't truly worried as he knew he was far superior to all of these amateurs that were fighting him. "No ordinary attack will work for any of you," Raditz called out.

PIPIPIPI

"Huh?" Raditz got a familiar reading from earlier coming from right behind.

Latching onto his back was Chaotzu, who seemed to have had quite a hold on the long-haired saiyan's back. "What the hell?" Raditz growled. He tried to reach behind him, but thanks to Chaotzu's small stature, it was quite a difficult task. He was stretching as much as he could to just touch the little guy's shoulders but to no avail. "Get the hell off me..!"

Tien looked up from below. He knew better than any other what his little friend was about to do. Even if Chaotzu had the guts to destroy himself for the betterment of the others, he just knew it wasn't worth it. "C-Chaotzu! Don't do it!"

Chaotzu had a look of instant regret on his face, although it wasn't 100% if he truly regretted his decision or not. Before the little guy got to even apologize, he immediately had blown up that very moment. Huge clouds of smoke could be seen surrounding the saiyan. None of Chaotzu's remains could be seen left over after his selfless sacrifice.

Tien was mouth agape, letting the blood leave his mouth without giving it any attention at all, unable to believe what his friend just did. "N-No...!" He knew what Chaotzu was thinking of doing and didn't want his friend to ever do such a thing. From his point of view, he would never get the chance to see his friend again. The Dragon Balls had already wished him back once, and they weren't powerful enough to execute the same wish twice for the same person in respects to resurrecting them from the dead. And with this taking place, Tien had nothing to lose in this battle. All he had was his life as well as his friend's. With the latter gone, he simply threw everything else, even his own life, out of the window. Tien got back up onto his two legs, shaking violently. His fists were balled up and red, so red that the blood inside started to taint the green grass as they fell down. "You won't get away with that!"

Raditz just chuckled. He wasn't in the least bit injured. As the smoke cleared, his armor could be seen greatly damaged, certain pieces having came off. But Raditz's facial expression said it all. He wasn't in the least bit worried for his life.

"If this is truly the best that you lot have to offer, then I see no point in playing with none of you..."

Tien was fuming. He was going to fight his heart out for his friend, who just risked his life for literally nothing. "Challenge Accepted...bastard!" Tien shot off the ground, not holding anything back.

"Heh..." Raditz patiently awaited. Seeing Tien come at him as slow as he did, Raditz figured he could eat an entire meal before Tien even made it of ten yards away from him.

Tien put all his effort into one solid punch just for Raditz, which simply blocked using his forearm. Tien was struggling, but Raditz simply laughed in the man's face, antagonizing Tien further. This obviously frustrated the warrior and he went to kick Raditz on the hip. Raditz blocked that as well. "Come on, I thought you were going to give me a real fight."

Tien pulled his leg back. "If it's a real fight you want...YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT!" Tien started to go on the offense that instant, holding back no type of combative punches or kicks whatsoever. Raditz decided to entertain his opponent a bit and just block and dodge all of the seemingly endless strikes of punches and kicks coming right for him. By the rate Tien was going, it seemed as if he was not going to stop. The man had a look of pure determination, as if he was on a mission. He wasn't going to stop letting his fists and feet fly at Raditz until he managed to get a few good hits. Regardless of the lack of oxygen, he was getting, regardless of the throbbing pain going throughout all his body, he wasn't going to stop until he was satisfied.

Roshi looked up from above, observing this. He and the others were a bit injured as well. "Fighting through sheer anger won't help him win this battle." He knew better than anyone that fighting through the eyes of pure anger wouldn't end it all unless one had complete power over the other. If anything, it'd just end the fight quicker than necessary.

"He's tiring himself out," Piccolo called out. "He's going to die sooner than I thought..."

Raditz was getting enough of being on the defensive. For the half minute he continued to block, swat and dodge, it felt like an eternity for him. The saiyan figured he wanted to have some real fun and get some hits in himself. Once Tien cocked back his fist and came with Raditz once more, Raditz decided to start his own little fun. Digging his fist into Tien's gut, the Triclops let out quite a bit of saliva. Now it was his turn.

"Now that I got you on the ropes, how about I give you some of my own personal treatment?!" Raditz went on the complete offensive as well, although unlike Tien, he was landing 100% of his punches and kicks. Tien couldn't do anything to protect himself at all and got struck all over from the head down. Raditz didn't have any shame in revealing his enjoyment out of this, treating Tien like his own personal punching bag. The more blood he saw being knocked out of his victim, the more he enjoyed it. The more he heard bones breaking and shattering, the more he enjoyed it. Raditz was like an insatiable beast who wasn't going to show any signs of stopping, just like Tien... "I like to call this..." Raditz raised his knee and slammed it against Tien's abdomen. "...PAIN!"

And pain was what Tien got. Clutching his stomach, slowly the three-eyed warrior gradually began to make his way towards the ground, choking. Everyone from above watched as he came, falling softly on one knee, holding his stomach tightly as if it was the last thing left. He coughed up spit and blood. And with his throat clear, he still had a hard time catching air.

"Hehehe..." Nappa chuckled. "If one of your stronger fighters can't match up to him, then there's no way this is going to end with any of you alive."

"You should all be fortunate you're not facing one of us," Vegeta added. "Even with only six of you left, the scenery would be left looking like a massacre was just left behind in the middle of nowhere."

Everyone was intimidated-greatly by this point. 'A-Are these truly the people Kakarot come from?' Piccolo's mind was racing. 'Compared to these guys...he's...just nothing. What the hell does that make of me?' For years he was considered the most dangerous, powerful threat the planet earth has ever known. Never before has anyone made him tremble until the presence of a true Saiyan warrior came before him. This not only lowered his self-esteem a little, but it infuriated him more. And to see the weakest of the three fighting them as if they were trash, just made it all the worse.

"So..." Raditz looked down from above. "You're gonna try and keep this up? By the looks of it, you won't even be able to last another full minute against me."

Tien looked up, wincing in pain. "Even if the odds are stacked against me...I won't give up." The man tossed aside all the broken bones in his body and the substantial amount of blood loss. He just showed that he wasn't going to quit, no matter the means.

"Fighting an inevitable death is pointless," Raditz spat. "By the time I'm done with you, you will be in so much pain that you wished I killed you this instant."

Forcing himself to stand up erect, Tien found himself at a new low. He at this point probably just managed to understand what Chaotzu was feeling prior to offing himself. He was at this point now and truly had nothing else to lose. "This next attack will do just that." Slowly, he began to ascend into the sky. Raditz just looked at Tien with a smug look from his face. Judging by how weak Tien was compared to him, he didn't find anything Tien was going to do would actually do any harm to him at all.

Tien clapped his hands together. "I don't care how much stronger than me you are! YOU WON'T SURVIVE THIS!"

"Tien!" Roshi yelled. The old man already had figured by now what Tien was up to. "You don't have to do this..." the three-eyed warrior had already performed this attack once before at the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, but now it was entirely different. Tien was going to pour everything and then some into this strike. Roshi, being the wise old man he was, knew very well it would come at the cost of Tien's life.

Tien quickly disregarded Roshi's comment. "This is the only way." looking at his allies below, Tien grinned, showing his bloodied teeth. "Besides..." He looked back to Raditz. "I'm doing this in Chaotzu's name. I'm going to rejoice with my friend. And this bastard's going with me!"

"You'd truly go ahead and off yourself?" Raditz asked. He never heard of beings doing such a thing. If anything, he usually just killed people before they had the chance to do anything of the likes. A tone of laughter could be heard through his voice as he spoke. "My. As they say...Cada quien a su manera." Raditz awaited Tien's attack. If this fool was going to kill himself, then he had no problems. It'd just be one less weakling he'd have to worry about fighting.

"You underestimate us!" Tien began to focus on his single point of attack. It was now or nothing.

* * *

Having finally entered the planet itself, Kakarot had taken note of something extremely different. "My..." Dedana looked over the planet, it being her first time here. Where they were supposed to be passing over cities, they were going over destroyed land. "For an ancient like planet, you sure are far more advanced than our world."

Kakarot had to hold in a scowl. From the moment he stepped foot back on this place, he knew something just wasn't right. The ship zoomed over the cities and continued at a rocket-like pace. "Big things have been happening since I've been gone..." Seeing his home in the shape that it was started to make the man regret his decision in taking off in the first place. "I should have never left."

Dedana looked at Kakarot, sort of questioning his statement simply by making an odd facial expression. She had to turn her entire body around. "Then what would I be without a proper master?"

Before Kakarot could even respond to that rather odd question, the ship had immediately landed at its destination. It wasn't as if the man wanted to answer her question anyway. Dedana nearly jumped, having been taken by surprise. Outside, it could be seen that Kakarot's ship had landed in the middle of the woods." Animals and insects all around instantly left the area, fleeting for their lives.

Slowly the pod began to open, letting in fresh air, a different type of air. "Aw..." Dedana sniffed the cool oxyegen from the inside. "Boy does that feel good."

Kakarot pushed Dedana on her back, shoving her out the pod. The Andedian female fell over on all fours before she could get up onto her feet. "Move," Kakarot told her. Doing as she was told Dedana moved out of the way, allowing Kakarot to exit the pod. Kakarot looked into the sky, trying to sense for something. "My home is nothing but half a damn mile from here and I can't sense my wife's energy...and Ox is in an entirely different area." Kakarot ascended into the sky and simply took off in the direction where his home was supposed to be.

Dedana got up, a bit annoyed. 'Didn't he get the warning I told him before? I may be his servant...but it doesn't mean I won't go rogue.' Dedana realized Kakarot was increasing the gap of distance quite a bit and figured she had to catch up. Ignoring her own personal thoughts Dedana quickly shot into the sky, making her way towards where Kakarot was headed.

Not even an entire minute goes by and Kakarot landed right where his home was...or supposed to be. Kakarot was confused at this scenery. All around him merely remained debris, pieces of his house entirely wrecked and dried up blood. 'Those Saiyans...' Kakarot growled. 'How would they know where the hell my son resided?' Kakarot began to walk across the area. He was so focused on the rubble as he walked he didn't notice something that was below him. Taking a few steps, Kakarot suddenly began to stumble. Maintaining his balance Kakarot remain standing. However he turned around and looked down at what was there, or shall it be said who was there.

Chi-Chi.

Kakarot could see her corpse there, all cold and pale, and totally decayed. He ignored the horrible stench emitting from her body filled with maggots and flies and just remained in the area. Taking a step closer to her he noticed her body was riddled with holes. Crouching down below Kakarot looked at her. "Chi-Chi...who the hell did this to you?" This wasn't the Saiyan's first rodeo. He went through quite a few losses in his lifetime, from the very age of three-years-old. Chi-Chi wasn't the one who had chosen to leave Kakarot this time, but she was taken from him. 'Whoever did this...wasn't the Saiyans.' Kakarot noticed the holes through his dead wife's body were bullet holes. He nor those Saiyans would kill in such a manner.

"Yo!" Dedana came hopping from the sky. "What's taking place here?"

Kakarot stood back up, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it." He turned around to face Dedana. "I'm going to need you to stick around here for a little while."

"Why?" Dedana asked.

"What I'm about to go do is take care of business-the type of business you shouldn't be concerned about being in the midst of.

Dedana scoffed. "Not even three minutes ago you just pushed me outside of the pod, not even caring for my well-being. Why do you care if I go to where you're going?"

Kakarot gave Dedana a soft smile. "Because...my slave hasn't lived up to her full potential yet." And with that said, Kakarot took off. Not even once did he glance back at Chi-Chi's body. It was too much...even for him.

Dedana was left like a sitting duck...having to figure out who this person could possibly be. The woman was met by a foul smell and instantly covered her nose. 'my god...'

As Kakarot flew he could sense energies of multiple people. 'Ox...how did my four-year-old son get put into this?' Kakarot was getting furious at the possibility of not only having to lose both of the people he cared about most right now. His son was all he had left. 'Hold on...'

* * *

Having finally charged his attack, he was ready to go launch his own fatal attack. Not just for his opponent, but for himself as well. "DIE! KIKOHO!" Tien let out his most powerful attack.

Raditz's scouter started to beep quickly, much faster than usual. It'd only act like this in moments of it malfunctioning. "What is this...he can put his energy into one focal point of attack as well?" Raditz was starting to grow worried. "What the he-AWGGH!" Raditz flinched as his scouter just suddenly broke into pieces before him. "I-Impossible!"

"I got him!" Piccolo yelled. Stretching out his hands, Piccolo had grabbed onto Raditz's leg from below. He made sure to keep a firm grip to hold the Saiyan in place so Tien could get a good hit.

"What the?" Raditz looked down below. "Remove your disgusting hand before I cut it off!" The saiyan fired away a large ball of ki at Piccolo, in order to resist the green man from distracting him...which totally was a success.

Piccolo and the others surrounding him all hopped away, letting Raditz's attack hit the ground, which caused a major explosion. "NOOOO!" Due to all the smoke below, nobody could see what happened, although they definitely recognized that shout coming from Raditz. Tien's attack got him dead on

Kiwi still watched from above. "Oh my...this is far too much entertainment!" A wide smirk could be seen all over Kiwi's face. "Just get rid of as many monkeys as you can before I finish the job myself, earthlings. You're not doing too bad." piece by piece his plan was coming to fruition. Either Raditz or Nappa would be the ones to take care of all the earthlings, then he'd jump in, take care of Raditz and Nappa before he took on to Vegeta. And with him out of the way, Kiwi could focus on depopulating earth and selling it to make his own form of currency. He'd get rid of those revolting Saiyans and manage to win some money. It was just perfect.

"Having fun?"

"Whoah!" Kiwi shot around. Having being caught by someone, his heart was beating quick. He just hoped it wasn't someone against him. He had his eyes on Kakarot, someone he was totally unfamiliar with. "Who the hell are you?"

"I should be asking you that question," Kakarot replied. "You're not from around here."

Kiwi chuckled. "Neither are you. I could tell just by judging your clothes. You must be apart of the Freeza Force."

"Freeza?" Kakarot cocked his eyebrow. "Who is that? Some type of popsicle?"

"No, you dolt! You mean to tell me that you don't know who the hell Lord Freeza is? The man practically owns every planet of the universe! He is the strongest of all mortals!"

"Owner of planets across the universe?" Kakarot scoffed. "Quite a nice feat. But I'm not worried about him." He looked below. "Are you with those Saiyans?"

"While of course not," Kiwi chuckled. "I actually followed them. I've got tired of Vegeta's antics and quite frankly, I'm just about ready to kill him."

"Is that so?" Kakarot asked.

"Yes..." Kiwi cocked his head. "Do you plan on stopping me?"

"No, no..." Kakarot waved his hand. "Of course not. In fact, it's quite the contrary. I've only known the man for a few hours and I'm fed up with him. I want him dead as well."

"Is that so?" Kiwi asked. "Haha. Try putting up with some spoiled brat prince for over twenty years."

"I would have been torn his head off." He kept his eyes peeled from below. The two watched from above, still waiting for confirmation of Raditz's well-being.

Kiwi clicked his scouter, deciding to get a quick reading from this mysterious stranger. "Heh. Judging by your power, you won't stand a chance. A mere power-level over 8,000 won't solve in helping me much. You can take the big guy and everyone else. I got Vegeta."

Kakarot didn't care how much stronger or weaker he was. All he desired was to draw blood from Vegeta prior to giving him the finishing blow. "Vegeta's holding back his power. He's far stronger than you or me. However, together...we have a chance."

Kiwi scoffed. "If you say so." He looked back to the fight. "But tell me first...how do we approach things?"

Kakarot started to rub his chin.

* * *

Tien lied down, not moving one inch of his body. The man didn't hold anything back and did exactly what he intended to do. He'd have no idea if Raditz came out alive or not, but at the very least, he went out like a warrior.

"He...he really took his own life just to rid of one of these monsters..." Krillin was short of words.

"Only a truly selfless man would do that," Lazuli commented.

"An honorable one at that," Roshi added.

Piccolo and Ox were both speechless. Piccolo didn't see any negative in Tien's risk, but at the same time, he didn't want to flatter a man he had planned on killing in his process of taking over Planet Earth. Ox on the other hand...couldn't believe the number of people dropping dead before his very eyes. This really got under his skin, and he was trying his best to keep the other from noticing.

"Hahahaahaha!" A familiar laughter could be heard from above. The man known as Raditz was still very well alive. "One of the most scariest attacks, if not the scariest one I have encountered upon arriving here...and all it did was destroy the entire upper half of my armor." Raditz continued to laugh. "I got worried for practically nothing." The Saiyan didn't want to admit that it indeed did inflict a considerable amount of damage onto him, but he made it seem like it had no effect. Despite a bit of blood and a good amount of bruises and scratches coming from his body, the confident laughter sounding from his mouth very well intimidated the others still.

The remaining five all got on guard. "Don't act for a second that his attack didn't weaken you!" Piccolo yelled. "We have an even better chance of taking you out thanks to his attack."

Raditz grinned. "Then that means I'll just have to take the rest of you out quickly this time. Heh." A bright, pink aura ignited around Raditz's entire being. "Very well! No more playing around!" He scanned over the remaining five, keeping track of whom he had left to have his fun with. "Now...who first?" Raditz wasn't like most and decided not to save the best for laugh. He just picked whomever he desired at the current moment. And the very next person he wanted dead just so happened to be the son of his presumed dead brother. "Oh! Nephew my nephew! You're the one who has caused me the most trouble besides your dead bald friend. You should definitely go be with your father first!" Raditz charged an energy attack in his hand.

Ox was almost nearly frozen. Above he just watched as Raditz generated ki in his hands, ready to take him out that moment.

"DODGE IT!" Piccolo yelled, warning the kid.

Piccolo's voice was far too faint for Ox to hear. The little boy was more worried about Raditz. "NOW! PREPARE TO DIE!" Raditz fired his attack right at him.

"DAMMIT!" Piccolo and the others got out of the way. The chances of survival for them if that attack hit even a piece of their skin was quite low. It would just so happen to be that Ox would be the next to go in the process.

Nappa was shaking his head, though smiling a little bit. He was hoping to see the kid in action more, but it turned out he wasn't capable of standing up for himself anymore. It was a man eat man world, so Nappa truly figured this was how it was meant to turn out. "Stupid brat!"

Just prior to the attack making contact with Ox, who was in shock, something had came right in the way of the boy. Immediately Vegeta had noticed something was up when this happened. 'What was that?' Vegeta glanced at Nappa and the others, realizing that they haven't taken note of an interference in Raditz's attack.

A loud explosion followed. Piccolo, Lazuli, Roshi, and Krillin each were all taken aback. Ox didn't even try to fight back. Though they didn't figure things out from Ox's point of view.

Ox actually awaited this moment. He figured he had no chance against these monsters. But why was he still standing? He knew that the moment his body came into contact with Raditz's strike, then it'd be all she wrote, so he had his eyes closed and ready to die. He was going to be with his parents once more. But none of that came to him. He could feel himself still breathing, most certainly alive. Opening his eyes, he saw a tall figure standing over him, though he couldn't decipher just whom it was.

"What the hell?!" Raditz nearly yelled. The man was so confused, that he wasn't able to come up with anything else to say. He had totally forgot about Kiwi being on earth. Not for a second did he take into consideration that the purple skinned fish looking faced soldier would intervene with his fight.

"Hahahaha!" Vegeta just busted out laughing. He, unlike Raditz, expected the guy to show up sooner or later. "What the hell are you doing here, Kiwi?"

Kiwi was the one who stood before Ox, saving the boy's life. "What does it look like, Vegeta? I'm protecting the child."

"And since when did you start caring about children?" Nappa asked jokingly. "But honestly the real question is why the hell are you here!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Vegeta asked. "The fool decided he finally wanted to rid of us. I can only imagine what Freeza would say if he found out what you were doing."

"Fool," Kiwi laughed at Vegeta. "I'll simply tell him a little white lie. It won't hurt. He doesn't need you anyway!"

"Get the hell out of here!" Raditz fussed Kiwi. "I have unfinished business to take care of."

Kiwi simply chuckled. "You Saiyans truly have reached a new low. Seriously...you were trying to kill your nephew?" He shook his head. "I didn't know a low-class could stoop much lower than their own status."

"EXCUSE ME!" Raditz bellowed.

"Yo...who the hell is this guy?" Krillin asked.

"I don't know," Piccolo responded. "All I know is that if he's on our side, then we have much less to worry about." Piccolo could sense the power coming from this guy and knew he was capable of taking out two of the weaker Saiyans without any effort at all. Teaming up with him against the strongest Saiyan would be their best bet and end up with them coming out victorious. There wasn't anything else better than this notion that Piccolo could have possibly come up with.

"Don't get your hopes up, fools!" Vegeta yelled. "He'll be dead with the rest of you by the time this is all over."

"I wouldn't be so sure myself," Kiwi said.

"Haha, we've gotten stronger since our conquest of Planet Anded!" Nappa said. "Haven't you heard the reports?"

Kiwi nodded. "Yes, I have. But I have a friend of my own to assist me."

"And who could that be?" Raditz asked through fits of laughter. "Appule?"

Nappa and Vegeta both started laughing hysterically. "No, you stupid apes!" Kiwi looked over at Raditz, who remained hovering in the sky. "Look behind you."

Raditz eyed Kiwi for a second. He knew well than any other that any common soldier Kiwi happened to bring with him wouldn't prove to be any trouble for him or his comrades at all. "Heh. Sure. Why not." Raditz started to turn around. "I'll gladly kill whoever this weakling is."

Nappa looked behind Raditz before anyone else did and was the first one to yell out his surprise. "WHAT THE HELL!"

That was when everyone else began to catch on as well. The one being the most excited was Raditz's nephew, who was under the presumption that his father was dead. "DADDY!" Ox yelled.

Raditz turned around. Once he saw this face, Raditz was at a loss for words. "N-no..." Raditz mumbled. "Y-you're dead!"

"Negative."

'How the hell did Kakarot survive his condition?' Vegeta didn't have any good guesses. 'He was on the brink of death. There is no way.' To think Kakarot would manage to rise up with a hole in his chest, after showing he was incapable of doing so, made absolutely no sense! Surely there had to be some explanation for how Kakarot was still alive, though he couldn't come up with anything at all. The only logical conclusion was that Kakarot was simply a ghost.

"Honestly..." Raditz's tail was lashing side to side, much angrier than before. "I'd have an easier time believing you were my father than you!"

It was just 20 years ago that Kakarot saw his own father with his very eyes. And even after, he saw the man in his dreams throughout his childhood. He recalled what the man looked like. "Do you see a scar on my cheek, you dunce?" Kakarot questioned his brother.

Raditz growled. "What the hell does it matter anyway?" Raditz asked. "I'm going to finish the job and kill you right now! Then you'll be in hell just with father."

'No.' Piccolo put behind the shock that Kakarot was alive, as he was much more mesmerized at the sheer jump in strength Kakarot attained. He could very fell feel it and he was on a different playing field now. 'His power...it...it's far higher than what it should be. How did he get so strong in such a short amount of time?'

Piccolo wasn't the only one questioning this as well. Vegeta could feel the power surging from Kakarot's body and knew something was up. 'And this was all my doing...I should have gone all the way through and disposed of Kakarot's body. Tch! Like any normal Saiyan, recovering from the brink of death, his power increases! And yet I can feel it...he's still holding back power...'

"Enough playing around!" Raditz yelled. Kakarot wasn't going to simply partner back up with them, so Raditz had no other choice but to finish the job Vegeta initially started. "You're dead!" Raditz fizzled out of sight.

Kakarot slightly looked over his shoulder. Kakarot's senses being much sharper and faster than even Raditz could travel, he knew exactly where his brother would be at. Thrusting his back fist just behind his shoulder, he hit Raditz directly in the face. Raditz went back a little bit, holding his face, which was now leaking blood. "Y-You son of a bitch!"

'Kakarot's far stronger than before...' Vegeta spoke silently in his head. 'He's not even trying against Raditz. The scouter puts his power at 8,850, but it appears as if he's has a lot more in the tank. But how much...' Vegeta found himself having a hard time gauging just how strong Kakarot really was. 'I'll just have to wait and see.'

"Kakarot's strong!" Krillin exclaimed. "B-but they said that they killed him!"

"Well, they tried and failed," Lazuli said. "But his power wasn't near this high when he was here just not too long ago!"

"Something's happened to him over time. He's broken limits I never thought any earthling could!"

"He's not an earthling is why," Kiwi told Roshi. "No earthling could be that strong."

"You underestimate us," Lazuli said, feeling a bit offended by Kiwi's remark.

"Just like how they underestimated your three friends?" Kiwi shot at them. He watched just how Lapis, Tien, and Chaotzu all died and knew to hit them where it hurt just to prove a point of his own.

They all kept silent. All except the four-year-old boy. "Look!" Ox called out. Everyone did as told, and resumed to look into the fight above.

"So what?" Raditz asked as held his nostrils tightly to prevent any more blood from dripping out. "You come back from the brink of death a bit stronger and you get cocky?" Raditz chuckled. "You forget that you're still my little brother, Kakarot! You wouldn't be able to stand up to me in a million years!"

"I know the power gap between us," Kakarot said. "You won't stand a chance against me."

"You dare..." Raditz was huffing heavily. "You fool! Like I said, you forget who the elder of us two are!" Raising his hand, Raditz began making an attempt to punch his brother.

Kakarot saw this coming from a mile away and got a hold of his brother's fist. "I'm a very forgiving person," Kakarot said. While he was speaking Raditz was trying hard to free his hand, though Kakarot didn't let go. "But you're my brother and that makes the two of us blood-related. Knowing you'd do such a thing in turning your back on me...makes me realize I can never trust you."

"RAGH!" Raditz growled, having felt the pressure Kakarot pressed onto his hand once Kakarot tightened his grip. "K-Kakarot...p-please. You're my only brother...don't do this."

Kakarot shook his head, not falling for Raditz's tactics at the very least. "No."

BAM!

Raditz doubled over. Kakarot lifted Raditz's face up by placing his hand under his brother's chin. Looking Raditz in the eye he said: "You don't deserve to be my brother."

Raditz could see the fire in his brother's eyes and knew that he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Like any logical Saiyan warrior would, they wouldn't let an act of such betrayal slide. Raditz valued his life more than any average Saiyan and only hoped his words would get him out of certain death. "Kakarot...No! Please!" Without any type of warning, Kakarot blew a hole right through Raditz's chest cavity with a blast. Raditz had a face full of shock, though inside he wasn't surprised in the slightest. "D-Damn you..."

Kakarot backed up mid-air, watching as his brother slowly began to descend to the ground Everyone watching the fight was a bit surprised Kakarot would off Raditz in the way he did. Raditz fell on his stomach, coughing up blood. "K-Kakarot..."

Kakarot descended down below, landing just before his dying brother. He stepped over the man's hole that went through his back, causing Raditz to make more sounds of pain. He ignored Raditz's silent yells and looked over to Nappa and Vegeta. "You're both next." Slowly he removed his boot from him and generated ki in his right hand. No last words were shared, no warning, or anything. He just blasted Raditz at point-blank range with a couple dozen balls of ki being produced from his hands. No mercy was shown-not even to his own brother.

The gang, as well as the Saiyans and Kiwi, just watched. Some screams could be heard initially. But Kakarot waited...he waited until he didn't hear any sounds anymore. Once Raditz was finally quiet, Kakarot stopped. The man was dead.

Looking at the fallen saiyan, his entire back was scorched. Fumes could be seen coming from his back. Having not felt any energy, Kakarot realized he was long gone.

While everyone was astonished, Piccolo was the main one. 'That look...' Piccolo studied Kakarot's face. 'That's the same look he gave me...when I was King of this world. He gave me that same look.' Piccolo started to see that things were finally in their favor. 'This is a done deal.'

"Don't forget!" Kiwi yelled. "I've got Vegeta! You can take the bald one." The purple fish face looking alien stepped up. "I'm going to have fun fighting my rival for the last time."

"Rival?" Vegeta scoffed. "You're far stuck in the past. I'm leagues above you now, fool!"

Nappa cracked his neck. "Someone with a mere power-level of 8,000 won't do anything to me!" The big man quickly got into his battle stance. "I will be the one to tear your damn head off!"

"Bring it on." Was all Kakarot replied. He knew very well what he was capable of and knew he'd be able to take on Nappa.

And everyone else just watched and anticipated until the battle was to start. Their prediction of this battle's outcome was as good as anybody's.


	22. Two Try Two

Having been left behind, Dedana was just stuck with her own devices. She remained in the same area that Kakarot had left her in. There she was just with a dead corpse the entire time. She just stared at it. Sitting on the ground she had her legs up, with her elbows touching her knees. She sighed. "What the hell am I supposed to do while he's gone for however long?" Looking at the body for a longer time, it occurred to Dedana why exactly would Kakarot even be examining the body in the first place, as if he knew her.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Dedana stood up. Slowly she began to walk over by Chi-Chi's body. "Who could you be?" Any normal person would have been disgusted by how much Chi-Chi's body had decayed, nonetheless the horrid odor that was being given off as she crouched down. Dedana and Kakarot weren't normal after all though. She looked at the pale-faced woman, examining her closely.

Dedana squinted her eyes, wondering the story behind this major incident. "What happened to you?"

"STAND BACK!" a voice yelled from behind. "Get away from the body!"

"Hm?" Dedana had stopped immediately. She froze for a little bit, not knowing exactly who could be behind her. Slowly, Dedana began to make her way around. "Yes...?"

"What are you doing here?" the person asked her.

Dedana had to get a look at the person questioning her before she was to answer exactly. As she turned around, she was looking straight ahead away from her, expecting there to be somebody similar to her height. Much to her surprise, there was nobody there. "W-what the hell?"

"Down here!" someone another voice shouted.

Slowly Dedana looked a bit lower. Before her was a blue, small guy and a dog with a ninja costume and a sword accustomed on his back. "You've got to be joking," Dedana mumbled. She smiled and bent over, having her hands touch her knees. "What are you two cute little squirts doing here?"

Pilaf growled at her. "You must think you're funny by trying to insult my height indirectly!"

"Um...no," Dedana simply replied. "You two are kids, aren't you? On my planet people, this small are always kids."

Pilaf sneered at her. "No, you idiot! And what are you saying? You're some sort of alien?!"

"I should be the ones calling you aliens," Dedana said.

"But you're on our planet," Soba shot at her.

"Touche," Dedana said. "But yes. Compared to you all, I am an alien."

Pilaf's eyes widened. "You're joking!" Never before had Pilaf met an alien, or so he thought. The people he had met in the past were never ones he considered aliens, no matter how abnormal those people happened to be.

Dedana shook her head. "No."

"But how are you speaking our language?" Soba questioned, a bit suspicious.

"Every planet should have their own language," Dedana answered. "The one we're speaking right now is just universal."

"But this language is our language!" Pilaf protested.

"Heh." Dedana folded her arms. "I was wrong. While the appearance of your planet is ahead of mines, you people sure are behind intellectually. Kakarot should have told me that."

"Wait...who!" Pilaf leaned forward. "I'm sorry..." He started digging in his ears. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

"I think she knows Kakarot," Soba said.

Pilaf eyed Soba as if he was stupid for even mentioning such a thing. "Don't be a fool, Soba! Since when did Kakarot start meeting aliens before us?"

Soba just shrugged. "I don't know."

"Kakarot," Dedana said. "Taller than you guys, has wild hair, good physique. That's him."

Pilaf shook his head. "Uh-uh! There could be some other guy with that name."

Dedana chuckled. "There is no way someone would want a name as weird as Kakarot. But nonetheless, he also has a tail. Brownish like. There is no other person that could have the same name and same tail."

Pilaf was dead silent. The Kakarot he imagined in his mind measured up to Dedana's description one hundred percent. Having known the man since he was a little boy, there truly was no other. "She's right!" Soba confirmed. "That is the Kakarot we know! That's our Kakarot!"

"Your Kakarot?" Dedana questioned.

"Yes," Pilaf said. "We took him in when he was just a little baby."

"You're joking?" Dedana asked.

Pilaf shook his head. "Nope."

"You've got to tell me about him!"

Pilaf glanced at Soba, then looked back at Dedana. It was far too obvious to notice that Pilaf was thinking. But then, slowly a semi-malicious smirk appeared on his face. "Sure. I'll tell you all about him."

* * *

As the trio went on to talk about Kakarot, Kakarot himself found himself confronting the very people that had betrayed him a couple of weeks back. Nappa had a confident look on his face. To him, the Saiyan may have gotten stronger, though Nappa himself got stronger as well. Regardless, the low-class Saiyan was still a low-class and had never been expected to amount up to the status or power of an elite, something Nappa had worked hard for over the years. "So...Kakarot, before I kill you, I'm dying to know. What's with the getup?"

Kakarot grabbed a piece of his cloak that he had. "Oh..." he observed his attire. "Jealous?"

"Not at all. But you make yourself appear to be of higher status than what you ever were or will be."

"You're still on about that low-class crap?" Kakarot asked.

"These guys are labeling Kakarot a simple low-class fighter," Krillin said. "And he's been one of the strongest people here for a long time."

"This is what makes these guys so intimidating," Roshi added on. "To them, Kakarot is a simple bottom feeder. I wonder if all their people are like this."

"Still...maybe back on Planet Anded your power-level of over 8,000 could have taken me down. But you're not the only one who has gotten stronger!" Nappa got into a clenched his fists and tensed all his muscles, starting to power up.

Everyone behind Kakarot watching all were even more fearful of the power that Nappa was demonstrating each of them. Below each of them, the ground began to shake violently.

"Hold on!" Roshi warned them all. Each of the weaker individuals was slowly beginning to lose their very own balance, not believing that such a force was capable of existing.

"H-How is this even possible?" Lazuli was awestruck. "Such power!"

Kiwi chuckled. "Is this all you got?" He clicked his scouter, getting a reading of Nappa himself. "A mere power of 9,100 surely won't help you win a battle against me." He then looked over to Kakarot. "And you won't stand a chance up against him. It's probably best you leave him to me instead, hehe."

Kakarot remained silent. In the face of Nappa's extraordinary power, he showed no fear to Nappa, which only confused the lot of the others. They already saw how much of a fighter Raditz was and he was the weakest of them all. None of them could begin to imagine what Nappa or Vegeta was like.

"Listen to him!" Ox warned his father.

Kakarot laughed softly. Nappa was kind of put off by this sudden expression from Kakarot, as were the others. Vegeta himself knew exactly why, as did Piccolo. But the others were far too blinded by Nappa's power to notice that Kakarot still had some of his own lying dormant.

"Leave him to me," Kakarot told Kiwi.

Kiwi was initially beginning to make his way towards and passed Kakarot, in a way to show he would handle things. "Fool. If you had a scouter you'd realize your chances of this battle. Let me at him!"

Nappa chuckled. "I know I sure would if I was you," he told Kakarot. "You're not only outranked, but you're outmatched!"

'His confidence isn't just some mere bluff...' Vegeta thought silently. 'This is real.'

"You make the first move," Kakarot said.

Nappa, of course, was happy to oblige. Just maybe with the first hit, he'd knock Kakarot on his ass and kill him that instant. "This will be the last thing you regret before you die!" The bald saiyan jumped at the shorter one.

Kakarot simply awaited for Nappa to get closer. At the last moment, all Nappa saw was a grin come from Kakarot before he swung. Nappa went all the way through, expecting to have hit Kakarot with full force. He didn't feel his fist collide with anything, and all of his sight suddenly got dark.

"What the hell!" Nappa exclaimed. His eyes were wide open, but things were pitch black. Feeling a breeze over his head, everything came to normal again. He looked ahead of him, seeing nothing but green grass. "Grrr! Where are you!?"

"Behind you," Kakarot said.

Nappa turned around as soon as he heard Kakarot's voice. Just across from him, Kakarot was holding up his cloak. "You forgot something." He dangled it with a smile, mocking the taller Saiyan.

"Tch!" Nappa spat at the ground. "Don't play games with me, you piece of trash!"

"I'm not. This is actually quite the serious matter."

Nappa was getting pissed at Kakarot's sarcastic response. "Your wounds are going to be serious in just a few minutes!"

"I won't believe it until it happens," Kakarot shot back.

"I'm the last person you want to be pissing off!" Nappa shot off towards Kakarot once more. Said Saiyan used an afterimage, allowing Nappa's fists to simply go through his own transparent fizzling body. "You son of a bitch...!" Nappa turned around and looked up. "You won't escape from me!" Nappa pounced off the ground and went right for his target.

Kakarot wasn't putting forth any type of effort into fighting Nappa from the beginning. He was getting a feel for the bald man's way of fighting first before he would go on the initiative. Kakarot bobbed his head from side to side, missing a few of Nappa's punches as they continued to elevate themselves into the sky. Kakarot took note of the frustration and just laughed in Nappa's face. This angered the bald saiyan even further.

Kiwi watched from below. "What is this?" He took off his scouter and examined it briefly. Through all of his years of fighting, his power scaling device never manipulated him before, he was sure, unless it wasn't working properly. "I know this thing isn't malfunctioning already. It's one of the latest models." It simply didn't make sense. Nappa's power proved to have a good advantage over Kakarot's, yet from what he was seeing, it was the total opposite.

Vegeta laughed at Kiwi from afar. "You depend far too much on that stupid device. You won't get very far with me if you keep on being reliant on it."

Kiwi snarled at Vegeta, to which the saiyan simply smirked at. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the Saiyan, just to enjoy pummeling him into the ground. He didn't do anything for the time being and just continued to spectate from below.

Nappa was sending a barrage of punches, yet none were seeming to connect at all. Getting more and more frustrated with his attempts being fruitless, Nappa raised his leg and began to cock it back. Kakarot reacted quickly and blocked it merely using his right forearm. Nappa was confused. How was he not breaking through Kakarot's defenses as easily as he had predicted? Nappa growled and backed up a bit, while generating a ball of ki in the palm of his hands. "DIE!"

Kakarot placed his hand out and simply let the attack hit him. Nappa was expecting Kakarot's demise to come with that simple attack. Kakarot coughed through the smoke formed by Nappa's blast. "All of that and you only managed to kill some dead skin cells that were on my hands." Nappa could see Kakarot's eyes through the smoke and only those. "How pathetic."

"YOU!" Nappa went in head first for Kakarot after said saiyan had made his remark. Nappa punched right through, yet only missing him once more.

Kakarot appeared far higher into the sky, looking down on Nappa. "Above you!" Vegeta warned.

Kakarot had two balls of ki coming right for Nappa from above. Nappa was quick and managed to dodge one of them by turning around. The other, however, made contact, grazing the lower part of his back. Nappa grunted as he genuinely felt an ounce of pain coming from Kakarot's attack. It was unbelievable. Someone of Kakarot's caliber was truly toying with him and the first minor strike he forms makes contact and actually does damage. It was preposterous!

Nappa held his lower back, looking up at Kakarot. "How could you...a Lower Class Soldier...do this to me!? YOU'RE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!"

"You dolt!" Kakarot shouted from afar. Subsequent to insulting Nappa he vanished. Nappa was once again left wondering where the hell Kakarot could possibly be. "You're now the weakest saiyan alive...that makes you the low-class."

Having been whispered into his ear, Nappa was beginning to turn around. Before he could turn at a 45-degree angle, Kakarot had his four knuckles connect hard against Nappa's cheek. The impact was hard enough to have Nappa flying away from Kakarot, as well as crack and knock his scouter that was on his face. "Heh." Kakarot followed suit, flying at speeds faster than everyone else asides Kiwi and Vegeta could see. Making his way above Nappa, Kakarot rammed the tip of his elbow against the back of Nappa's head, redirecting baldy into the ground below.

'Hm. His power-level did a quick spike as he connected that hit.' Vegeta, while watching the fight, was more so scrutinizing Kakarot. 'He's definitely stronger than what he is currently letting himself off to be."

Nappa nearly came crashing down head first into the ground below. Using his big hands, he came to a hard stop. As he was falling down, so much momentum was built up that once his palms did make contact with the ground, the entire hand went completely through it. Nappa grunted, having to put effort into releasing his hands from below the ground. "I'm...I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Nappa sent a grand amount of spoil flying once he yanked his hands from below. He left a small, yet sizable gaping hole just a few inches away from his feet. "How is this remotely possible!? I'm far stronger than you! There is no way you should be able to outdo me in every aspect! WHAT TYPE OF SHIT IS THIS!?" Nappa was red in the face, so close that he was practically fuming out the nose with his big huffs of exasperation and anger.

"Calm down!" Vegeta ordered. Nappa immediately shot his attention to the higher ranking saiyan. "It's obvious that what Kakarot is attempting to do here is anger you. If his plan were to result in a success and you become irate, you will begin to fight in a haphazard manner. Thus, leaving him with an opening big enough to take you down for good with one well put precise attack! Cool yourself and fight right, Nappa!"

"While I wasn't really doing so intentionally, that's quite the nice observation," Kakarot complimented from above. "It's nice to know that out of the three of you...or shall I now say two, that one of you have a big enough of a brain to come to some logical conclusion."

Nappa was just beginning to calm down, yet Kakarot's snarky comments were getting to him easily. "You dare insult my inte-"

"Zip it!" Vegeta demanded Nappa. Kakarot chuckled in the background at watching Vegeta treat Nappa like a child.

"Whoah!" Krillin yelled, blown away by Kakarot's performance so far. "He's certainly not the same little cocky pipsqueak that he was 8 years ago!"

"No, he's pretty much the same," Lazuli remarked.

"Except cockier and bigger," Roshi added on. "He's drunk on the superiority he has over this fighter right now that he's nearly forgotten about the other guy! If he enters the other fight as arrogant as he is now, he won't stand a chance."

"My dad won't lose!" Ox told Roshi.

"That I certainly hope for," Roshi responded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Vegeta questioned Nappa. "Kakarot's holding back his true power. And while I only have an estimation of how strong he truly is, it appears that without a doubt that he is far superior to you." Vegeta placed a foot forward. "It's probably best that I step in."

"No!" Nappa interjected. "I don't care how strong he is, I'm urging to wipe that smug look off his face!"

Kakarot scoffed. "You want me to fight seriously for you, tough guy?" He folded his arms. "You don't want to go that route..."

"I've about had it with you!" Nappa yelled. "But yes, Kakarot. Show us just how strong you got because you managed to survive a death sentence from Vegeta! I'm itching to see it."

"Hm." Kakarot closed his fists. Applying some pressure, Kakarot began to tense up. A few veins started to pop up in his arms. "You..." Kakarot was having a hard time speaking as he was powering up. "shall see."

PIPIPIPIPI

Both Kiwi and Vegeta were getting an insane reading. Kiwi didn't expect this type of jump in power. "You must be kidding me...! H-His power..." Kiwi clicked his scouter, turning it off. "I can't believe this." Never before had he witnessed such a thing.

Nappa took note of Kiwi's reaction from afar and looked over to his partner. "Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his power-level?"

Vegeta was frustrated in his own right. For one, not only did a low-class bring himself from the bottom of the ranks and far higher closer to himself, but Vegeta was to blame for it! If not for his mistake at not making sure Kakarot was dead, Kakarot himself wouldn't even be this strong. While he could take him, having Kiwi by his side was another problem. "His power-level is at 15,000!" Vegeta yelled angrily. He took off his scouter and dropped it to the ground. "I'm about tired of these damn things!" Vegeta stomped on it without hesitation. "This is bullshit!"

Kakarot got a little amusement from seeing Vegeta's reaction, but then he looked back over to Nappa. "You still want to fight?"

Nappa opened his mouth wide. While words weren't coming from his mouth, something was to very soon. "RAHH!"

A giant wave of yellow ki that came from Nappa's mouth was making its way for Kakarot-and fast!

Kakarot realized that if Nappa's attack was to make direct contact head on, he would be damaged a bit. Placing his hand across his body, Kakarot waited patiently, like a batter waiting for a fast one. "YAH!" And when the time was right, Kakarot swatted away the giant wave of ki as hard as he possibly could.

Nappa watched in awe as his most powerful attack was just deflected away. "Impossible..." He was at a literal loss for words. Nothing else came from his mouth. He figured that if his most powerful attack didn't work, then trying anything else would be pointless.

"D-Did he really just deflect that?" Piccolo no longer was able to see Nappa's redirected attack as it made its way far into the air.

"Fine." Nappa spat at the ground. He looked over to Vegeta, finally realizing that he was right the entire time. It took a lot more than the average person would see, but now Nappa finally could see that Kakarot was far too superior to him. Yes, it took a lot of pride to swallow, but Nappa wasn't a complete idiot. His only chances of Kakarot getting killed were if Vegeta was to take the younger Saiyan on himself. "You were right, Vegeta. You should have stepped in. I'll tag you in though." The big guy was greatly disappointed in himself, not being able to take down some saiyan that was of far lower ranking than he was. Having performed so pathetically in front of Vegeta just made him even more internally frustrated. Nappa then smirked. "At least I'll have fun watching Vegeta squash your head in."

Vegeta smiled. "About time you've come to your senses."

Nappa turned around. "Alright. You can take him."

"You're not going anywhere!" Kakarot yelled. Nappa turned around, only seeing a blur of the Saiyan's body. Kakarot had decked him right in the jaw, having sent Nappa sliding through the ground below. The moment Nappa hopped right back up off the ground, battle ready, Kakarot was already one step ahead. He showed no mercy as he drove his fist onto Nappa's abs. Nappa couldn't help but bend over, clutching his stomach at the pain.

Vegeta himself didn't expect this type of sudden action. 'Did he just really?'

Kakarot elbowed Nappa in the face, following with a nice hard uppercut to the chin. Having no choice but to go up, Nappa was elevating like a rocket. Kakarot simply stuck his hand out. "Good riddance." Using some energy, Kakarot unleashed a sizable wave of ki at Nappa from below.

Nappa was eyes wide. "N-No..." He began to panic more as Kakarot's attack came closer and closer. "Damn you, Kakarot! YOU COWARD!" That ball of energy hit against Nappa's back hard, directing him further away, as hell as higher into the sky. His voice echoed through the skies as he was being sent away.

* * *

"Ahahaha!" Dedana laughed. "You're joking, right? You thought it'd be a good idea to try and starve him as punishment because he was crying too much one night?" Dedana was dying of laughter.

"Look," Soba lifted up Pilaf's pants. "He still has a scar on his ankles from when it happened!"

"Wow!" Dedana looked over at Pilaf. "How did that feel?"

"SHHHH!" Pilaf covered his lips. Dedana and Soba kept quiet. They all listened for something. And eventually, each of them heard the same noise.

"Someone was screaming just above us," Pilaf had pointed out.

Soba then shrugged his shoulders. "Yah, whatever! Onto the story!"

Pilaf moaned and placed his hand on his cheek, a bit embarrassed.

* * *

Kakarot and Vegeta were both just staring each other down. It was already tense enough. But the fact that everyone else was quiet made it even more intense than what it had to be.

"Alright!" Kiwi shouted. He came from behind Kakarot and touched the man on his shoulder. "You done had your fun! You've got 2 of them. Let me get one at least!"

Kakarot turned around. "Very well." Nodding his head, Kakarot walked passed Kiwi, with the rest of the gang. Kiwi stepped up, looking at Vegeta with his gracious intentions of settling their rivalry once and for all.

As Kakarot made his way to the gang, they were all silent. Kakarot stared Piccolo down for a moment, sending signals in a nonverbal way. Knowing these two had a history with one another, the feeling of respect was mutual between them, although just seeing how Kakarot performed, it was more from Piccolo than the contrary.

Ox wasn't the one silent though. He ran up to Kakarot and hopped on him. "Daddy!" He yelled, hugging him tightly. "You did amazing!"

Kakarot grinned, feeling a bit of pride from his son. "I should be the one telling you that." Kakarot set Ox down. "You were the one to survive these fools for so long." He looked over the five survivors: Lazuli, Piccolo, Ox, Roshi, and Krillin. "All of you deserve a medal for lasting as long as you did."

"Now it's a matter of seeing if this guy can last against Vegeta or not," Piccolo said. Everyone went to pay attention to the fight that was to transpire in just seconds.

Kiwi had a cocky grin on his face. "My scouter only says 15,000 Vegeta. Heh, but I know you're holding back. Your power-level of 18,000 is well known already."

Vegeta grinned. "That is correct." Vegeta tensed up briefly. "Hmp!" A quick power-up and Kiwi's scouter was beeping.

"Now that's what I'm talking about. 18,540. You've got only just a stretch stronger, Vegeta. Planet Anded really didn't do much for you, did it? Heh!" Kiwi didn't pull anything back and went on shooting a myriad of ki-attacks at Vegeta.

Vegeta hopped quickly into the air, avoiding all of those attacks. "THERE THEY GO!" Ox called out.

Vegeta could sense Kiwi's ki above him already and quickly ducked, dodging an attempted kick by his rival. Vegeta turned around, going to kick Kiwi as well. Being quick, Kiwi moved backward. Vegeta followed immediately. "Gotcha!" Kiwi called out, firing a surprise ball of ki right for Vegeta's face.

Vegeta quickly swatted the ball of ki aside and continued making way towards Kiwi. Kiwi was hit with a straight punch to the face, being slightly knocked back a little bit. Kiwi then proceeded to block Vegeta's punch and try to elbow him.

Vegeta blocked with his forearm and leg swept Kiwi as they were mid-air. Kiwi began to fall over a little bit, allowing Vegeta to strike him right on the cheekbone. As Kiwi began to plummet, with true haste, he got a hold of the saiyan's legs and used his initial momentum to sling him below towards the ground. Kiwi clapped his hands together and went on to blast Vegeta down below with two huge monstrous balls of energy.

Vegeta vanished before they could even touch him, letting them continue down below. "Hm?" Kiwi was trying to figure out where his enemy disappeared to. Not being able to sense ki, he didn't have any luck.

Vegeta suddenly made himself present just in front of Kiwi, surprising the fish-faced alien. With a hard punch directly at the face, Vegeta managed to knock Kiwi's scouter off. Vegeta quickly grabbed the scouter before it could go out of reach and slammed it into Kiwi's face, which left shards of glass on Kiwi's cheek, before kicking him directly in the chest, which was followed with a hard bop atop the head with his two fists.

Kiwi landed on his two feet, but it wasn't quite easy in making the landing. Even though he received a rather ferocious beating and was experiencing some pain, Kiwi chuckled. "You son of a gun." He wiped the blood coming from his cheek, eyeing Vegeta. "You got me there!" Kiwi shot up straight into the sky, just making an even distance from Vegeta as he stopped suddenly.

Vegeta was grinning. "It's been a while since you've been in a real fight, have you Kiwi? I can tell you're kind of rusty."

Kiwi was wide-eyed. "W-What the hell?"

"Hahaha, what?" Vegeta asked. "Are you just coming to the conclusion that your death is near? The truth of the matter is if you don't kill me, I will kill you. If you somehow, by a miracle find a way to kill me, Freeza will make sure to punish you real nice before he throws your body off into the vacuum of space."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Kiwi shouted, pointing behind Vegeta. He hoped that this would work. So far Vegeta was skillfully outclassing him, even though their powers were insanely close to one another. Kiwi didn't care how he won a fight, simply as long as he managed to do so, he would be fine.

"Hm?" Vegeta turned around. If Kiwi reacted the way he did, then surely something of great importance was behind him, was it not?

"You dunce!" Kiwi shot over to Vegeta and gut-checked the saiyan.

"Oooo..." Krillin winced. "He got him good."

Kiwi chuckled and continued to render Vegeta a good amount of hits. "Now..." Kiwi raised his hands above his head, charging energy into his hands. "DIE!" Shooting at Vegeta point-blank range, Kiwi knew he did a good bit of damage to his rival.

Once everything cleared, Kiwi was slightly worried. "N-No way." He was seeing nothing before him. "I know...I did not just destroy him head-on."

"Behind you!" Kakarot yelled from below.

"Eh?" Kiwi turned around.

Vegeta elbowed Kiwi in the face, and hard. "Fool! If you had paid attention to Kakarot, who is simple low-class scum, then you should have figured by now that I have the ability to suppress my true power as well!" Vegeta then proceeded to knee Kiwi in the stomach.

Kiwi was clutching at his stomach, with a great tight grip. A bit of saliva made its way out of his mouth, the pain being near far too great for him to handle. "My trip to Planet Anded has done far more than simply increase my power from 18,000 to 18,540. My power-level is at 20,000!" Vegeta placed his hand right into Kiwi's face. "And you...thought you had me as the fool."

Kiwi's gasp, and his last one before he was done away with. In just a simple blink of an eye, Vegeta's blast had done away with Kiwi's entire existence.

"N-No way!" Krillin shouted below. "H-He just killed him...like it was nothing!" This random alien soldier had a lot to do with their success in the end. Vegeta just beat him to a pulp and sent him to hell as if he was simple trash. Now they only could rely on Kakarot, who was weaker than Kiwi himself.

Vegeta had the most devilish grin on his face. The enjoyment he had on seeing the last look on Kiwi's face was simply great. It was merely all the more enjoyable to see the face full of shock and fear that was invoked into Kiwi, who truly considered Vegeta a rival.

"That was no rival of his." Kakarot scoffed. From all of what he saw, it was just a pathetic performance from some rusty, high ranking, narcissistic soldier that had to convince himself that he and Vegeta were true rivals.

"Hm?" Roshi looked onto Kakarot. "What do you mean?"

"That clown told me that he and Vegeta were rivals. Rivals don't get killed that easily when facing their supposed adversary."

"So what?" Piccolo asked. "What does it matter?"

"If he was truly his rival, then the fight would have gone on longer than it did!" Kakarot could be seen sweating a bit, obviously nervous. "If that were to happen, either A, Vegeta would be dead. So there wouldn't be any worries for myself. Or B, Vegeta would be exhausted and I'd be able to fight him without any serious problems."

"What are you implying?" Krillin asked.

Kakarot shook his head. "He's a different monster." He looked at the group of people he was surrounded by. "I'm no match for him."


	23. Two Volatile Saiyans Fight

Those looking up to Kakarot was greatly worried. "What do you mean you have no chance against him?" Krillin asked, eyes completely wide. "You're our only hope to set things straight!"

Kakarot had sweat trickling down his face. He could see that everyone was counting on him so he could get rid of Vegeta, but the gap in power was far too great. "I'm going to have to go about things tactically," Kakarot said. He looked up above, where Vegeta had just got done killing Kiwi off as if it was an everyday thing. The top saiyan looked down at Kakarot, a devilish grin on his face.

"Daddy?" Ox tugged at his father's leg. "What are you going to do?"

"My best," Kakarot responded to his son, stepping up. He and Vegeta were maintaining eye contact the entire time.

"Good luck," Piccolo said.

Kakarot looked back. "If I need help with anything, then I will have you guys to call on to, got it?"

Everyone just nodded and waited for Kakarot to commence the battle. Not all of them had high hopes, but Kakarot was their only ticket way out. The Saiyan had dug himself out of many holes in his life, so he saw it no different here, no matter how bad things seemed at the current moment.

Kakarot slowly ascended into the sky, soon coming face to face with Vegeta. None of these two warriors blinked once. Everyone spectating from below could feel the insane tension in the air arising. They would only realize just how important this fight was to Kakarot if they had witnessed themselves what Vegeta had done to him.

Kakarot, looking at Vegeta's face, just made him lose his composure inside. However, remaining stoic going into battle was the number one priority. Just simply focusing on beating Vegeta wasn't going to work out at all. Kakarot's pupils dilated instantly the moment prior to disappearing.

Vegeta prepared himself for this, keeping his guard up, although he stood still. Vegeta could already tell where Kakarot was headed to before said saiyan would be able to make it there. Vegeta turned around, lifting his leg up in the process, getting ready to kick Kakarot dead in the stomach. Much to Vegeta's surprise, he wasn't even there.

"Hah!" Kakarot was behind Vegeta, one big ball of energy in the palm of his right hand. Kakarot fired off his ki attack, aiming directly for Vegeta's back.

Vegeta's head jerked around. Spotting the ball of ki coming for him from behind, Vegeta vanished. Kakarot was a bit aggravated that being so close, he still didn't make any type of contact with his attack. Staying on his toes, Kakarot shot up into the air.

Looking up above, Kakarot was looking out for Vegeta. "Trying to escape already?" Vegeta shouted from below.

Kakarot looked down, having seen Vegeta shoot forth a small fiery ball of ki. Kakarot redirected his flight by going backward, just barely missing his opponent's single fire of attack. Vegeta's ball of ki had grazed Kakarot's chest plate as it was coming up from down below.

"The battle's just begun." Kakarot could feel Vegeta behind him. However, before he could do anything in avoiding Vegeta's attack, he received a hard knee to the spine. Kakarot was pushed forward and turned around, going to face his opponent. Kakarot tried to give Vegeta a quick jab, however, Vegeta simply dodged it. Going for a few more, Vegeta continued to dodge and smack away at Kakarot's hands.

"Damn...!" Seeing this was going nowhere, Kakarot turned around and flew away, leaving a trail of purple energy behind his body as he flew as quickly as he could.

Vegeta sneered. He didn't like how Kakarot was playing defense. He preferred the fight to get up close and personal. He was just using tactics to try and think of ideas to come out on top. He knew he had to nip that in the bud if he wanted to come out victorious over the weaker Saiyan.

"Son of a bitch is trying to flee!" Vegeta took chase after Kakarot. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Kakarot looked behind him. He saw Vegeta easily catching up with him. so in slowing himself down, Kakarot waited for Vegeta to get a little closer. A few seconds pass, and Vegeta was truly close at the moment. An idea just came to Kakarot's head and so he used it, knowing the only way to win this battle was using simple strategies, no matter how outrageous they seemed.

"Now..." Kakarot immediately turned around and shot an energy attack dead on for Vegeta.

Vegeta stopped for a bit, quickly swatting the ball of energy away. Once it was out of his path Vegeta darted back for Kakarot.

"RIYA!" Kakarot came forth, decking Vegeta in the jaw as hard as he possibly could.

Vegeta was taken aback by this, not expecting a punch to come from Kakarot the way it did. However, being much weaker, it didn't do entirely too much but just have Vegeta's face slightly budge. Vegeta just chuckled in Kakarot's face. Kakarot was in near disbelief. It was the perfect decoy and he used all the force in that punch to at least inflict some type of damage. Vegeta kneed Kakarot in the stomach, having said warrior doubled over.

"Where did all that power go ever since you killed off Nappa and Raditz?" Vegeta asked. He didn't expect to get an answer as Kakarot remained quiet. And she surely didn't receive any answers since Kakarot was too busy holding his stomach. Vegeta scoffed and went to raise his fists up above his head. "I'm waiting!" Vegeta yelled, hammering Kakarot right atop the head.

Kakarot was sent down below. As he made way he gradually got control of himself and made a safe landing below. "Ah..." Kakarot took one deep breath. Never before has he gone so fast in battle just right off the bat. This was more than likely because he was facing a warrior entirely stronger than himself.

"He's not off to a good start," Roshi observed.

"Duly noted," Lazuli said.

"Kakarot is giving it his all right off the bat and he can barely keep up," Krillin said.

"Barely?" Piccolo scoffed at Krillin's remark. "If you haven't noticed, his adversary isn't even trying. If he does put some more effort into the battle, then Kakarot won't be able to keep up at all."

"I'm glad I've got some senzus just in case," Lazuli commented.

"Indeed," Roshi remarked.

"Ahahaha, what's the matter, Kakarot?" Vegeta descended from below, arms crossed. "Having a hard time?" Kakarot remained quiet and still, trying to come up with something as Vegeta ran his mouth. "Honestly if I were you I would have never come back here. Everyone's going to be dead anyway. Your better option upon coming here would have been to hide..."

Kakarot shot into the sky. From up above, as Kakarot was elevating himself into the clouds he was letting it rain on Vegeta, sending a barrage of ki attacks on their day down.

Vegeta stood there, getting himself ready to start smacking these attacks back as if they were just balls of rubber. "Hm?" Vegeta looked over at the attacks. "None of them are hitting me. Not in the very least..."

Kakarot had no intentions of hitting Vegeta at all. In his mind, he knew well enough that Vegeta would either simply deflect them back or just dodge them. So instead Kakarot aimed at the ground, all just inches away from Vegeta's legs. Kakarot shot ki attacks all around him, creating a big cloud of dust.

"Damn!" Vegeta coughed into his hand. "He's not letting up...not one bit." Vegeta waived his hands, creating a big hole so he could see through. Looking through it he was expecting to see Kakarot above.

Kakarot shot through from Vegeta's blindside, elbowing the saiyan right in the cheek. Vegeta didn't see this coming at all. And thanks to his guard being dropped, he was sent off his feet. Vegeta caught himself lacking with haste and went with the motion as he was forced off his feet. Placing his hands into the air, Vegeta executed a cartwheel before shooting up into the clouds, just having missed an oncoming straight kick from Kakarot.

Kakarot grinned, finally getting a decent strike. He followed his opponent, rocketing into the sky to follow Vegeta.

Vegeta looked below him, seeing Kakarot was making chase. "Did you really think that would do anything!?" Vegeta quickly changed directions and started flying down. Kakarot instantly came to a stop, trying to control his own momentum so he could change direction and get out of Vegeta's way. As much as Kakarot wanted to go off to the side somewhere, he knew he wasn't able to. Vegeta's velocity was far too great to dodge.

Vegeta elbowed Kakarot dead center into the nose. Kakarot's eyes shut thanks to the great amount of pain just inflicted on his face, there being a bit of blood released from his nostrils. Vegeta chuckled and rendered Kakarot a downward punch, making contact with the saiyan's temple. Kakarot plummeted down into the ground below.

As Kakarot crashed into the hard, green grass, he bounced up. Catching himself before his back was to touch the ground once more, Kakarot placed his hands on the ground and flipped backward to get back on his feet. Vegeta didn't let up though and kneed Kakarot in the face, having Kakarot stumble back. As he did Vegeta kicked Kakarot right on the hip.

Kakarot was forced off his feet, making way to falling on his side. Vegeta decided to speed up the process and punched Kakarot in the cheek. The other side of Kakarot's face formed a little crack into the ground thanks to the sheer impact of falling thanks to Vegeta's fist.

Vegeta went to stomp on Kakarot's face using his boot. As soon as it came into contact, Kakarot could feel his skull feeling like it was going to shatter. Vegeta grinned and kept his foot on Kakarot's face, applying more and more pressure. "See this? This is a clear image of the natural pecking order. You, the ground, the grass on the ground, my foot that's on your face, then me!" Vegeta laughed as he applied some pressure, forcing Kakarot to groan. "You should recognize where the hell you're coming from, Kakarot!" Vegeta raised his foot from Kakarot's face and drove the tip of his boot against the lower saiyan's stomach.

Kakarot had no other choice but to be sent sliding through the ground, leaving a great trail of dead grass. Vegeta placed his hands out. "You're the second strongest saiyan alive and it's all about to go to waste." Vegeta started to generate ki in his hand. "All because of your idiotic action in deciding to return to Planet Earth." Kakarot let out a yell once struck by Vegeta's attack. He was sent further back through the grass.

"DAD!" Ox yelled. The boy was beginning to make his way to his father. By the way this fight was going, Kakarot wasn't going to last long. The least he could do as a son was to help. That's what he wanted.

"No!" Piccolo placed his hands on Ox's shoulders, refraining the kid from entering the battlefield. "It's far too soon to interrupt this battle right now." The Namekian knew that Kakarot had a lot in him, and he always pulled himself from desperate situations. He's seen it with his very own eyes.

As much as Ox wanted to go in and help Kakarot, he realized that Piccolo was right. "Okay..." his tone of voice was lacking that of confidence, however, he decided to stay anyhow, that being Piccolo was a more experienced person when it came to these types of things. He looked back onto the fight.

Kakarot got back on his feet, marks of bruises around him already. His face was a bit bloodied, and he was battle damaged all around and he hasn't even been fighting for a totality of one minute against Vegeta. Kakarot wiped the blood trickling down his face. Slowly he then formed a smirk.

"Hm?" Vegeta's brow elevated suddenly. For some reason, Kakarot was smirking. And seeing how he was in the position of dying within the next ten minutes, he didn't see why Kakarot would be smiling right now. "What's got you all happy?" Vegeta asked.

Kakarot just continued with the same smug smirk on his face. "This situation...I have been to similar ones like it. However, I always managed to come out on top. As parlous as this battle is for me, I can't help but smile at the fact that I know I'm going to come out triumphant."

"I didn't take you for much of an idiot entirely upon first impression," Vegeta admitted. "However it would appear to me that I happened to knock some screws loose. Haha!"

"Heh." Kakarot nodded. "RAH!" with a lack of warning, Kakarot fired off back to back blasts from each of his hands.

Vegeta went on to punch a par of ki attacks before having to block the remaining two using his arm. Opening his closed eyes, Vegeta went to see if he could see Kakarot in the same position from afar. "Hm." Vegeta went to sense for Kakarot's ki. Before he could find Kakarot by locking onto his energy, he found out where Kakarot would be through Kakarot's actions alone.

"You can't do anything now!" Kakarot yelled from behind, getting a hold of Vegeta's tail. Kakarot thought he had Vegeta on the ropes, where he not only wanted Vegeta but needed him so he could have a higher chance of winning the fight. Kakarot himself remembered the great pain he endured when Pilaf or the others would have to grab in his tail so he would be able to calm down since he was quite a clamorous child. "Let's see if it works for you."

Vegeta just looked back at Kakarot as if he was a fool. "Baka!" Vegeta struck Kakarot hard atop the head using his elbow. Kakarot's bells went to ringing quite a bit after being hit like that. "Unlike most Saiyans, I managed to train my tail. It's quite sad you'd have to go so low so soon into the battle, Kakarot. You and your brother are just alike and you've yet to realize it."

Kakarot growled. Even through the pain he was enduring from the blow Vegeta rendered him, Kakarot maintained a good grip on Vegeta's tail, which Vegeta could very well feel. "Grr!"

"Let me go, you buffoon!" Vegeta struck Kakarot again. Still, Kakarot would not release him. "RAHH!" Vegeta did it again. But still, Kakarot didn't let go. And again Vegeta hit him. It got to the point where Kakarot had blood coming down from the top of his head. His vision was betraying him and everything felt woozy in his surroundings. He knew better than to let go, or it could end badly for him. There was only one thing Kakarot could do in his current position to make Vegeta feel some kind of pain. No matter how hard he would be, he was going to go through with it.

"T-Then...you won't be needing this anymore!"

Vegeta's eyes widened due to Kakarot's comment. He knew exactly what the weaker saiyan was implying. Raising his elbows once again he got ready to smash Kakarot's head in-this time finishing it for good.

RRRRIP!

Vegeta felt a great sharp pain go down onto his tail bone thanks to Kakarot having ripped it off. "GAHHH!"

Kakarot smirked, having gotten a hold of Vegeta's tail. He stood up, a bit dizzy, holding it with pride. "So far for a weakness, huh? That looks like it hurt a lot!"

Vegeta was grinding his teeth. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated. The saiyan's entire body was tense, veins were everywhere on the top of his face. His eyes got a bit red and he event felt that he was seeing the very same color. Kakarot was smiling, holding it up high. Not only was Vegeta livid that Kakarot took away Vegeta's greatest power, but he mocked him as he did, just laughing in his face, holding his tail up as if it was a trophy. "YOUUU!" Vegeta yelled at the top of his lungs, cocking his fist back.

Kakarot didn't even see the fist coming. Everything was just a blur. Vegeta's fist hit Kakarot so hard that Kakarot was taken off his feet and sent flying back. Vegeta shook his head, now not going to show any mercy. "YOU'RE DEAD!" Vegeta took off for Kakarot. Vegeta's great speed allowed him to make it behind Kakarot and have Kakarot be stopped immediately with a knee to the lower back region.

Vegeta grabbed Kakarot by his great wild hair and proceeded to slam Kakarot down into the ground. Vegeta had Kakarot on his back, getting ready to pound the saiyan's face in. After the first great punch, Vegeta wasn't allowed to do so easily anymore.

Even still, Kakarot held onto Vegeta's tail, which was detached from his body. Using the tail, Kakarot wrapped it around Vegeta's neck and started to choke him. He was showing the stronger Saiyan that he wouldn't give up so easily.

Either Vegeta was going to stop punching him due to the extreme stress around his neck or Kakarot was going to stop choking Vegeta due to the extreme pain he was receiving punch after punch.

"This is horrid!" Krillin yelled. "I've never seen some type of battle like this!" No matter all the battles he had seen in his lifetime, he'd never witnessed one so ruthless and inhumane.

"One of them is going to have to give up sooner or later," Piccolo commented.

"Right," Roshi added. "They won't be able to keep this up for long."

As time passed, both Kakarot and Vegeta found themselves getting weaker. Vegeta was losing breath quickly and the pain was restricting Kakarot from putting as much pressure onto choking Vegeta.

Suddenly the two stopped. For a few brief seconds, both were still. They each had to catch their breaths. Vegeta needed it due to the lack of oxygen as the other needed to let the throbbing pain on his face subside. Kakarot placed his head slightly back, as well did Vegeta. The two headbutted themselves dead on at the same time as hard as they could. The impact had the back of Kakarot's head slam into the ground below and Vegeta fall over from Kakarot, both of them groaning in pain due to their hard, resilient, made structure.

Vegeta took a bit to get up as he had to catch his breath before jumping right back into the fight. Kakarot was leaking blood all over his face due to Vegeta's fists. Imprints of knuckles could be seen around as well.

Vegeta got back up onto his two feet, growling. He touched the top of his head and looked back down onto his white gloves, which were now tainted with red. Vegeta's eyes widened. "No...he did not." He glanced back over to Kakarot, who was a bit slow to get back up. " A piece of trash like him...drew blood from me?" Vegeta could feel his body shaking. "AN ELITE WARRIOR?!" The mere sight of Kakarot's face was now angering Vegeta. The saiyan raised his feet up, getting ready to stomp onto Kakarot's chest.

Kakarot took note of this and quickly rolled over on the side to avoid Vegeta's boot from making any contact with him again. Quickly bringing himself back up as fast as he could Kakarot jumped forward for Vegeta, going for a straight direct punch to the face. Vegeta was quick and managed to block the hit that moment. Kakarot stepped back and tried for an uppercut.

Vegeta moved to the side and rammed his bicep into the side of Kakarot's face. Kakarot went to stumbling a bit to the side, allowing an opening for Vegeta. Kakarot noticed a side kick coming from Vegeta and got a hold of it quickly. What he didn't see, however, was the fist coming at his face. Kakarot immediately let go of Vegeta's leg and started to move back a bit, dodging the incoming punch.

Vegeta ducked under a haymaker from Kakarot and countered with a hard gut-check. Vegeta rubbed his fists against Kakarot's gut so he could settle the pain in. Kakarot grabbed Vegeta's fist, not allowing him to do anything else. Releasing his right hand from Vegeta's fist, Kakarot got extremely low and used his right shoulder, slamming it into Vegeta's face.

Vegeta got a bit of good damage done to him thanks to this hit. Kakarot stood erect that instant and clapped his hands together. "I've had it with you!" Removing his hands Kakarot was slowly generating a ring of ki. "ShiNoWA!" Kakarot yelled at the top of his lungs, letting go one of his own made signature attacks.

Vegeta noted the great amount of power that Kakarot had just placed into the attack. Vegeta had no other option but to take it head-on. A great amount of electricity was going on within the the ring of ki. As soon as it touched Vegeta, a loud explosion took impact.

Kakarot was sent off his feet and landing hard on his back due to the extreme pressure of his attack. Kakarot heard a loud yell come from Vegeta as the saiyan was caught into the great bang of the attack.

"HOLY!" Krillin's mouth was agape.

"Such power..." Piccolo was at aw from Kakarot's performance.

Roshi himself was shaking. Over three centuries of life for him, and during that lifetime he had seen marvelous things, but what Kakarot just did came extremely close to some of the great ones.

Kakarot lifted his head up from the ground, looking out for any signs of Vegeta, whom he knew was still very well alive.

"Is he dead?" Ox asked.

"Use what you've been taught!" Piccolo barked. "If you could feel his ki you'd know he is still alive. But he's definitely not as strong as he was going into this fight."

"That's a good thing!" Ox yelled.

"Yes, but neither is your father," Lazuli informed the little boy. "So he's in just as much danger as he was going into the fight as well."

"Indeed," Roshi said. "Let's see how he manages to get out of this one."

Vegeta could be seen, very well still standing. He looked at his hands. The white gloves which he was currently wearing were all ripped up. Looking at his pants, they were shredded as well. The saiyan could feel blood on him. "I-I...I can't believe..." Vegeta's hands were trembling. "Kakarot...a mere low-class...COULD DO THIS TO ME!" Vegeta jerked his head up, yelling at the sky. A giant barrier unleashed from the saiyan.

"Careful!" Piccolo yelled. Before them, the ground was shaking. Being careful the group tried to maintain their balance and keep from falling over on their sides.

Not only did Vegeta have the entire ground shaking, but the entire area trembling due to his extreme power as well where they were. The birds flying in the sky had a hard time being able to adjust their wings to escape the danger zone.

Kakarot got back on his two feet, breathing heavily. 'He's lost it...' The great surge of power coming from Vegeta was something that amazed even Kakarot. Having to endure this power himself, he was barely able to believe he made it this far into the battle without having a fatal wound yet.

Vegeta couldn't take this anymore. "I will not excuse such humiliation!" Vegeta ignited a great violet aura around him. "THAT'S IT! I AM FED UP WITH THIS PLANET! YOU ALL WILL BE REDUCED TO ASHES!" Vegeta shot into the sky, his violet aura shining brightly. "GO AHEAD, TRASH! AVOID THIS AND WATCH AS YOUR PRECIOUS PLANET BLOWS UP INTO PIECES!"

Kakarot's eyes shot open, wide. "W-What!" Kakarot was thinking initially that Vegeta's threat was a mere bluff. But hearing the tone in his voice and the amount of power Vegeta was getting ready to unleash, Kakarot realized Vegeta was not fooling around.

Vegeta just chuckled. "THAT'S RIGHT!" Vegeta was charging his most powerful attack. Vegeta figured if he would destroy the planet, then the embarrassment rendered to him here would just vaporize along with Planet Earth.

Seeing no other choice, Kakarot powered up as well, a great violet aura surrounding him, too. In the palm of his hand, he had great ball of ki charged, one of his other most powerful attacks. "I won't let you!"

Vegeta shot his attack forth. "GARLIC HO!"

Kakarot raised his hands up high, above and behind his head as much as he could. "Karamitiburasutā." Kakarot put all he could into this attack and let it go.

Everything surrounding them was nearly tearing apart. From the grass to the simple rocks in the area. The ground was trembling and things that belonged attached to the ground started to rise up and break into pieces, bit by bit.

* * *

Pilaf, Soba, and Dedana were all having fun, just hanging out and were talking. "So once we went out to the restaurant, Kakarot had a-! WHOOOOUH!" Pilaf fell over on his butt.

"W-What is going on around here?" Soba asked. "Such power..."

"The earth is shaking," Dedana said, standing up firmly. She watched around her as trees were trembling. The animals running around were all losing their balance as they were trying to escape what they considered a threat. "It's Kakarot," Dedana said. "He's fighting someone."

"Who could he be fighting to cause the entire planet to shake?!" Soba asked.

These were the type of questions that none of them knew the answers to. All they could do was hope for a miracle and that nothing horrible would take place.

"W-We've got to help him!" Ox yelled.

Kakarot felt himself being pushed back by Vegeta's attack. Even if he did put everything into his own blast, he could feel his grip slipping. 'D-Dammit...! His attack is far greater than my own...'

Vegeta laughed from up above. He wasn't trying anywhere as hard as his opponent, yet he noticed that he was winning with ease. "Try as you wish, Kakarot! You stand no chance of defeating me at all!"

Kakarot noted that Vegeta was correct. He could feel the power clash being pushed further into Vegeta's favor. If he didn't do something now he'd be a goner for sure, probably just as well as the entire planet.

Kakarot looked over to the ones watching on the side. As much as it pained him to say it, he saw no other option. "HELP! NOWWW!" Kakarot yelled. While Kakarot truly wanted to take Vegeta down himself for his own matter of pride, he wasn't dumb. Knowing his chances of taking down Vegeta solo was very slim. Being smart about his situation and having the help of those against Vegeta as well should be more than enough to push away for sure.

"LET'S GO!" Krillin yelled. He and the others flew off to help out Kakarot as soon as he called for help.

"YAH!" Roshi powered up as the others took off before him, getting into his complete buffed up state, ripping his shirt in the process. His muscles were bulging all over. "Right behind ya!"

Ox made it by his father's side. Placing his hands on his forehead, he began to release his own power. "MASENKO!"

Vegeta's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about the other earthlings. Not for one second he'd think of them standing by Kakarot's side, assisting him in this power struggle. This just meant that Vegeta would have an even harder time taking them all down together. "No...you bastards...!"

Krillin, Roshi, and Lazuli came into the fray, adding on with their very own Kamehameha attacks.

Vegeta could feel it going into Kakarot and his friend's hands now. "Y-You coward...you require help from your weakling earthling friends just to be able to take me down! How pathetic!" It was at this moment that Vegeta genuinely had to apply more force just to refrain from losing his very small advantage he had over everyone against him.

Piccolo came on the side as well, yet to contribute to the fight. He looked at Kakarot, who looked back during his struggle. Kakarot smirked at Piccolo. He knew he needed the Namekian's assistance just to be able to come out victorious. "You gonna help or not?"

Piccolo grinned as well before contributing to the defeat of Vegeta. The Namekian placed his hands forward, getting himself ready to blast Vegeta. "Bakurikimaha"

Now Vegeta was truly finding himself between a rock and a hard place. If he gave up now, he would find himself as a coward for not at least attempting to finish the job. However, if he lost this, then there is a chance of defeat and maybe even that. He didn't like either of the options. "DAMMIT! I WON'T ALLOW DEFEAT!"

Kakarot found himself having trouble pushing on through. He was greatly weakened, but he needed to pull through. "Everyone..." Kakarot looked at the group. "On a count of three...I am going to need you all to put every single fiber of your being into your attacks." Everyone nodded their heads, preparing themselves. "One..." Kakarot yelled. "Two..." Kakarot was gathering up some more energy from within, as well as everyone else. Letting it all out, Kakarot put everything he could into getting rid of Vegeta. "THREE!"

Vegeta immediately found himself on the bad side of things. The combined powers of the earthlings, as well as Kakarot's, just pushed them over the edge of winning the clash. "No, no, no, no, no, no..." Once the earthling's power reached Vegeta's hands, the saiyan knew he was done for. "NO!" Their ki attacks all had sent Vegeta flying into the sky.

They all waited until Vegeta was out of sight as well as sound.

Everyone below all sighed in relief as they watched Vegeta fly away into the sky. Kakarot fell over on his back. "I'm done..." The Saiyan was completely exhausted. He didn't go more than three minutes of the entire fight and he simply wished it was all over. If he had to deal with Vegeta again, he knew he wouldn't be remotely capable of taking him head-on.

Krillin and the others cheered on, all except Piccolo.

"We did it!" Ox ran up to his father. "Daddy, we won!"

"It took all of us just to take that monster down," Piccolo commented.

"Yeah, but who's going to take care of him for good?" Kakarot asked. "He's still gonna live after that."

Krillin grinned. "Don't worry. Somebody's been on the look-out the entire time." He winked. Not knowing as to whom Krillin was referring to, they were all confused.

* * *

Vegeta happened to crash land hard into the ground in a far away area, being in a huge crater. The saiyan's armor was nearly torn to shreds. He barely had any pieces of it left remaining. Though greatly injured, Vegeta could still stand. "I'm not leaving here without having all their heads ripped from their shoulders!"

"I'd think twice about that if I were you!" a voice from behind yelled.

Vegeta growled. Whoever he was sensing was just some weakling, but he was far too agitated to be messed with right now. "And you are?" Vegeta's eyes locked onto some short and fat guy with a sword attached to his waist and a chicken bone in his mouth.

"I'm here to take over the leftovers!" Yajirobe drew his sword and starting running at Vegeta. The short fat samurai assumed that since Vegeta looked so weak that he would be able to finish the job no problem. The man was a strong samurai, far stronger than the average human. He was just as strong as the others. His only downfall was the fact that he knew not to sense energy. He'd thought twice about running at Vegeta just if he knew how strong the man was.

Vegeta growled, having gotten enough of fighting one earthling for the day. "ENOUGH!" He punted Yajirobe right in the face, sending the fat guy high into the air.

"MUH MEAL!" was all Yajirobe yelled as he was being sent away through the clouds.

"Tch!" Vegeta spat at the ground. Pulling out a keypad he began typing on it. The saiyan was calling for his departure. Vegeta knew very well that Kakarot had strength in numbers. Not wanting to chance it, Vegeta decided to leave. All they had to do now was team up on him and his chances of survival would be quite slim. As much as he didn't take a liking to it, he knew it was best to live another day to come and slaughter everyone. "I don't have time for this. I'll just come back stronger and kill them all." Vegeta looked into the sky, awaiting his attack pod to make its appearance. He could hear it coming from afar. "This won't be the last you see of me, Kakarot..." Vegeta hopped into the sky, nearing his attack pod, which opened.

As soon as it shut, Vegeta was making his way out of there. Vegeta's face was plain, yet inside he was bubbling with rage. "All of these weaklings just made a fool out of me. I swear the next time I come here, I will not go out like this!"

Although before Vegeta would have his second chance, he would be having to make his way back to base with the complete humiliation and embarrassing loss replaying in his mind over and over again.

And as for those on earth...they got together and rejoiced once more as yet another threat was done with. As the others cheered, Kakarot looked into the sky, on his back. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could notice Piccolo's pant leg near him. "He's still alive..."

Kakarot nodded. "I know."

Piccolo looked into the air. Then back at Kakarot. "You may be in a different league of your own, Kakarot...but I promise you, you won't be this far ahead of me for too long."

Kakarot chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Piccolo just turned around and began to fly away. "Piccolo!" Ox yelled from below.

Piccolo just looked behind him as he continued to make his leave. He stopped for a short moment and smirked at the boy. "Good job, kid." Was all he said before he made his leave.

Kakarot grinned. 'See ya round.' The saiyan realized however, there were other matters to attend to. While on the surface there didn't appear to be any more threats, he could tell there would be more in the future. Surely Vegeta would come back sooner or later to try and seek justice for his own pride's sake, but there was something else bothering Kakarot.

What the hell made the type of mess on Planet Earth before even the Saiyans arrived? This was a question floating all in his mind since he even came back. He was going to help rebuild the world to the way it was once before. However, once that was done, Kakarot was going to get down to this seemingly unsolvable question: Who or what thing had killed Chi-Chi?

That was the only thing lingering in his mind by this point.


	24. Getting Down To Business

Just a few hours after the battle, everyone that remained alive in the fight had all retreated to the lookout, all except Piccolo. Before Kami, he noted that around him there were a couple of sad faces. What all that took place with the Red Ribbon Army, then followed up by the intrusion of the Saiyans, everything was just messed up. It wasn't just the destruction that took place, but the fall of their fellow partners disappointed them as well. The only upside to this entire scenario was that of their victory over the Saiyan and the Red Ribbon. That, however, wouldn't be capable of bringing the cities or those that past away back.

As it was quiet, everyone was just pondering on things. Just having to internalize all that had recently happened and find a way to resolve the mess that had been made over the past month.

Krillin was looking down at the ground, just thinking to himself. "How are we supposed to bring back everything that has happened?" The bald monk asked, breaking the silence throughout the entire lookout.

Kami sighed. "I don't know if using the dragon balls will work this time. While you can wish for a good cause, there could perhaps be a bad thing to come along with it."

"What do you mean exactly?" Lazuli asked. "The Dragon Balls can grant any wish there is, right?"

Krillin's eyes brightened up. "Yeah! We can bring back our loved ones and reduce the damage done to the earth."

"That won't work," Mr. Popo informed the group.

"Wait...why?" Puar asked. The thought of not having his longtime best friend Yamcha back worried the little cat the most. But he wasn't the only one wondering this. Bulma, Krillin, Oolong, Roshi wanted to know as well.

Kami sighed. "For one, the Dragon Balls can only allow one wish per year. While I did as much as I could, having made the dragon bring those back that have died only twice, there are still things to think about" He said, raising his index finger. "If we bring back all those that died in the past month, it will happen. But the damage done to many sections of the world won't be able to be restored."

"So if we were to wish for the damage done to be brought back, then we'd have to wait another year to bring everyone else back?"

"Yes," Kami said. "However, the downside of doing that will result in you not being able to have your friends back."

"Why the hell is that?!" Lazuli yelled, just nearly snapping out of nowhere. Everyone turned around and looked back at the young blonde fighter. They could see the pain in her eyes, the pain being the equivalent of the tears that fell down her cheeks. Lapis meant everything to her, that being her twin brother. This only made the mood surrounding everyone more melancholy.

"Because once a person is dead for, over the course of more than one year, the Dragon Balls here will not be able to bring them back. So you can bring your friends back, including all the innocents that died with the dragon balls, but you won't be able to wish back the others."

"So let me get this straight." Oolong raised one hand, garnering the attention of those around him. "We wish back our friends, we can't undo the damage instantly." He then raised his other hand. "But we wish back the damage to be undone, we can't wish back our friends."

"Yes," Kami answered, nodding his head in response to Oolong.

"What a load of crock shit," the pig silently cursed under his breath. He hoped to have his cake and eat it, too-just so things could instantly go back to how they were, just how he loved it.

"So what do you guys suppose we should do?" Krillin asked.

Everyone was silent. Lazuli obviously wasn't going to put her two cents into the topic, having her back turned against her group of friends.

But then, Bulma spoke up. "We should bring back our friends," the woman spoke. If Bulma had any idea to say or any suggestions for that matter, they knew she must have had good reason for it. She wasn't a genius for nothing.

"Are you sure about that?" Kami asked, simply wanting to make sure.

Bulma responded by nodding her head. "I'm positive. While we can bring back those that didn't deserve what they got, I can use the money from Capsule Corp to help rebuild sections."

"That's not a bad idea," Oolong remarked. The pig scoffed, scratching his head. 'Why the hell couldn't I come up with that?'

"I'd have to agree on that," Kakarot commented, finally speaking up. "Now you can rethink my offer I had purposed to you a while back." The Saiyan slowly started to make his way towards Bulma.

Bulma was highly uncomfortable with Kakarot being in her presence, but seeing as how Kakarot was now on their side, she simply tolerated him. The memory of Kakarot killing her senior friend Gohan many years ago never faded away from her head.

"Your business and my business," Kakarot continued. "We are the two richest people on the planet besides the King of earth himself. We already know he is going to assist with rebuilding the world, which will definitely benefit everyone. But if you and I were to pitch in, combine our businesses, we could give off a lot." He then slowly moved his way near Bulma's face. Everyone looked on, but none of them would be able to hear exactly what Kakarot would tell her, all except Kami because of his humongous ears. "And then once everything is back to normal...when business is running again, we will get triple the money back spent from the locals all around." After having finished his piece, Kakarot began to back up. He knew he had this offer in the bag now. It was far too good for anyone to resist.

Bulma then glanced back at Kakarot. "That...that could work," she said. The awards far outweighed the risks. And this would make everyone happy, not just her, but the countless victims as well.

"But there's only one thing," Kami told the others. Everyone turned back and looked over to Kami, listening to what he had to say. "We must wait 11 months from now until we can wish everyone back to life."

"But why?" Lazuli asked.

Kami smiled. "Your friends that had lost on the battlefield today, they're going to need time."

Kakarot crossed his arms. He wondered about Chi-Chi and her being wished back to life. But he wasn't the one fretting over it the most. "What about my mom!?" the kid shouted. "She needs to be brought back, too!"

"Don't worry. I've pulled some strings. She will come back, too. But she's not in the same world as Yamcha, Tien, Lapis, or Chaotzu are in."

"What are you insinuating exactly?" Kakarot questioned.

"I am saying that you will need to give your friends time. In the other world, each is separately traveling to the home of Kaio-Sama."

Kakarot raised his eyebrows. "Kaio-Sama?" Never before has he or any of the others heard such a name. Whoever this person turned out to be, he must have carried a name of significant importance.

Kami nodded. "Yes. Your friends are all traveling along the serpent world in order to reach the home of Kaio-Sama." This, all in all, was the least Kami could have done for these guys. Having put even more power into the dragon balls so everyone could have their friends back for a wish. And unbeknownst to most people, Kami had been the one constantly restoring the moon back so they could have the beautiful scenery that is the moon. As long as they all would help him keep his world safe, Kami would return the favor as best he could.

"Who is this guy exactly?" Lazuli asked, suddenly. Her voice notably cracked as she asked this question, still preferring not to show her face to the people around her.

"Kaio-Sama is the North King of the Worlds," Kami informed. "He is a martial arts teacher and mentor, of far higher caliber than I could ever be. Once all your friends make it there, they each will need time to train in order to come back stronger and perhaps defend against an even worse threat."

"What about my mom!?" Ox questioned once more.

"She is in a safe place in the other world," Kami answered. "In 11 months she will come back just as well as the others."

Kakarot placed his hands on Ox's shoulders. The younger boy looked up at his father, who just grinned. In return, Ox gave a small smile. The look on his father's face gave a message to Ox, letting the boy know that it would all be okay in the end.

"It's a good thing," Kakarot commented. "I can't wait to have my rematch with three eyes."

"YAGHHHH!" Everyone turned around instantaneously. Hearing some strange grunts coming from the edge of the lookout, they all paid their attention there. A fat, chubby hand latched its way on the surface of the lookout, holding a chicken bone as well. "GRUGH...!" Yajirobe managed to push himself up, using all his might. The overweight samurai panted a bit heavy as he made his way there.

"Who is this guy?" Kakarot asked, talking silently to himself.

Yajirobe stood up, a big smirk on his face. "It's done!"

"Oh, really?" Krillin asked, placing his fists on his hips and smacking his lips. He could just tell that Yajirobe was bullshitting.

Yajirobe nodded his head excessively. "Damn right! Once that son of a B saw me, he got into his little ball and skedaddled outta here!"

Krillin just closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, just prior to facepalming hard. "No..." he shook his head. "You were supposed to kill him!"

"Oh..." was all Yajirobe responded.

"Judging by your appearance, you seemed to have had a hard time," Kakarot said, holding back a bit of laughter. He knew very well Vegeta escaped without a problem, due to the fact that even while injured and fatigued, Vegeta wouldn't come to any trouble having to handle Yajirobe on his own.

"Doesn't matter!" Yajirobe objected. "Unlike you all, I made him scurry on home!" Folding his arms with a big huff, Yajirobe then began to chuckle. "He won't be coming back here anytime soon."

"If you say so," Kakarot responded, snickering softly. Ox was smiling wide, seeing the bruise on Yajirobe's chin having received a hard boot from Vegeta.

"I really thank you for all that you've done for us," Roshi told Kami. "We wouldn't have done as much as we did against that saiyan without you."

"It's one way to make sure my world stays in good shape. As long as I have you all, I need not worry anymore."

Seeing that no other words needed to be shared, Oolong figured it was time to head back home. "Let's go, guys." Oolong shape-shifted into a bat and started to make way. Puar, following suit, turned into a rocket, and let Bulma get on top so she could leave as well.

"Hey!" Yajirobe got in the way of Roshi.

"What is it?" Roshi asked the man.

"Can you bring me down to Korin?"

"Yeah sure." Roshi chuckled and pushed Yajirobe off the lookout.

"HEYYYY!"

"KINTO'UN!" Roshi called out, laughing. Roshi laughed at the thought that Yajirobe was truly thinking that he was falling to his death. He could only imagine the look on the obese warrior's face when he was saved by some sentient cloud.

"Alright!" Krillin was getting ready to make his leave as well. But upon turning around, he noticed that Lazuli wasn't moving at all, just remaining stationary to herself. The short monk just then stopped. "H-Hey...aren't you coming, Lazuli?"

Lazuli remained quiet. Krillin could tell she was angry, her fists were balled with her defensive position with her arms crossed and her jaw being clenched. Krillin slowly elevated into the air, to where his face would be parallel with Lazuli's.

MUAH!

Lazuli was wide-eyed. She didn't expect a peck of the lips on her cheeks from Krillin at all. Mr. Popo watched, a wide smile on his face. He could tell there was chemistry between the two. Lazuli moved her eyes over to Krillin, who had a smile on his face. Much like Kakarot had did to Ox earlier, Krillin was signaling to Lazuli that everything would be just fine in the end. "May I?" Krillin stuck out his hand.

Lazuli was initially hesitant at first. But Krillin's secure body language was beginning to affect Lazuli herself. She eventually removed her hands from her chest and opened her hands. Taking Krillin's hand, she gave a little smile as well, wiping the dry tears from her face.

"Let's get outta here!" Krillin took Lazuli on for a ride into the sky, away from everyone else.

"Those are the people who have helped me restore faith in humanity in its entirety," Kami remarked. "While there is a lot of bad across the world, the universe even, those good people are truly hard to overlook."

Kakarot made his way over to Kami. Now that everyone was gone, he felt that he could talk to the guardian of earth one on one. "You know, while I was gone, prior to the saiyan's arrival, something else had taken place here. More deaths were caused due to the other threat compared to that of the Saiyans. I need you to fill me in." Kakarot glanced over to Ox, who was being kept occupied by Mr. Popo.

"I figured you would eventually come to ask me this question." The senior Namekian looked down. "Luckily when it all started, I happened to see everything that had happened the day they decided to try and take over this world."

Kakarot listened intently, willing to take in and soak every piece of detail Kami had in store for him.

"The day they started, they all dispersed across the entire world, section by section of the planet, looking to take things over by using force. While a lot of people were being harmed, some managed to protect themselves. When they attacked your home, your boy wasn't able to do anything to protect his mother, who didn't last very long in the fight. Once he saw her die, his emotions took over and he went on a rampage. One by one, he went onto going into multiple sections of the planet to take out groups of the Red Ribbon Army."

Kakarot was in disbelief. He knew in his mind that his son possessed a great ability for strength, but he just never got to see it with his own eyes. He continued to listen, taking note that Kami had more information for Kakarot.

"Upon realizing the Saiyans would come back, I had warned them about their soon to be arrival. At this time we didn't know if you were for or against us. But suddenly after taking out one of the stronger people of the Red Ribbon Army, there has not been another attack by them since. I would figure that some would have to be out in hiding, just to live to fight another day."

Kakarot nodded his head. "So if they do come back, I will have a chance to fight them myself, is that right?"

"Yes, however, you must not underestimate. That was Yamcha's downfall against them. Had I not changed the rules of a one death limitation on the behalf of Lapis and Lazuli, Yamcha and the others that had been killed before by Piccolo would never be able to come back."

"Duly noted," Kakarot responded. "In the meantime, the main focus will be on rebuilding this world so everything can be back to normal."

"I appreciate that," Kami said.

Kakarot nodded and just turn around. "Let's go, Ox!"

Ox turned away from the flowers that he had helped Mr. Popo water. Seeing his father already making it over the lookout and on his way down, Ox got up quickly as well. "Coming!" Ox began to run. He turned around and waved at Kami and Mr. Popo. "Nice meeting you! See you later!"

"Buh-bye!" Mr. Popo called out, waving back at the little boy.

Kami watched as the kid made his way off the lookout. "Don't you find it kind of odd, Mr. Popo?"

"What's that?" Mr. Popo asked, smacking his hands together.

"From what I have witnessed, the Saiyans, the people of which Kakarot originates from, are nothing but blood-thirsty warriors that seem to have an insatiable lust for battle and malicious deeds."

"Yes, you're right," Mr. Popo responded.

"However, when I look at Kakarot, all I see is a proud, confident, and cunning man who likes to fight. While it is noted what race he belongs to, he's not exactly like the others."

"Do you suppose it could be due to the influence earthlings have brought to him here?" Mr. Popo asked.

"I am not entirely too sure. His track record isn't all too good, I must say. He was brought up and raised by a group that didn't want anything more but to rule the earth. When he left them, he went under the wing under a man who takes pleasure in harming others and then under an assassin. Being surrounded by nothing but bad can leave quite a mark on someone, don't you think?"

"I believe so," Mr. Popo said. "But thinking about it, saiyans usually go to other worlds just to rid of them. He was brought here under different circumstances. So maybe perhaps he grew to love this world as this is the only one he has grown up in. Besides, he has lived for quite a while with good people, right? He made his own business and now tends to give back some service by helping the world rebuild."

"You make a very good point," Kami told Popo. "However, him being a saiyan, he still has a violent nature inside of him." Mr. Popo nodded at Kami's remark. "As of now, it's a similar case that I had very long ago, not being able to become the guardian because I had some great evil lurking inside of me. I feel it's the same with him, but he is more controlled with keeping it dormant."

"He uses that outlet through fighting," Mr. Popo told Kami. "That's the only way he can let out this violent nature he was born with. By doing what his race does best; fighting."

"I couldn't agree more," Kami said. "Now let's just hope he keeps up this path of virtue. I would hate to have to see him go to the other side."

* * *

"Is it over?" Pilaf shot from behind a rock. It had been a while now since all the global shaking had come to a stop. He simply hoped that nothing more of the like would transpire. If so, he'd duck right back into his hiding place.

Soba was across from him, hiding behind a boulder as well.

"You two are silly!" Dedana laughed, amused by their cowardice. "It's over now."

"Phew!" Soba and Pilaf flicked some sweat from their faces as they stood up.

"Thank goodness!" Pilaf exclaimed.

"Now everything is all in the matter of if Kakarot had survived his battle or not."

"Did somebody call on me?" Kakarot asked from above.

Dedana, Pilaf, and Soba all looked into the air. They were amazed to see Kakarot back.

"Kakarot!?" Pilaf was wide-eyed.

"No it's his twin," Kakarot said sarcastically.

"What happened to you?!" Soba asked, looking over Kakarot's attire.

The saiyan had pieces of armor gone and bruises all over his attire. Not to mention, he had a bit of dried blood on his face, too. He acted like everything was normal, though his appearance showed otherwise.

"A battle," Kakarot replied. Both Pilaf and Soba then understood. That was the only explanation of course.

"Did you get your so longed justice?" Dedana asked.

Kakarot slightly smirked. "Only two-thirds of it."

"Hey..." Pilaf couldn't believe he was getting surprised after surprise. "I-is that...Ox?"

"Yes," Kakarot said, looking over to his son, who was a bit battle damaged as well.

"Is it me or did his muscles grow a bit?" Soba asked, observing the boy from head to two.

"He looks just like you," Dedana pointed out, referring to the boy's facial features.

"He is the spawn of my loins," Kakarot told Dedana.

"That's your kid?" Dedana asked. The woman had not taken that into consideration beforehand.

Kakarot unwrapped his tail from around his waist, letting his swing around. "See?" Kakarot asked.

"There's no denying the fact that he is your kid," Dedana commented.

"So what's up?" Pilaf asked.

"Why are you two here?" Kakarot asked, changing the subject.

"We were watching over your wife's body," Soba said.

Kakarot crossed his arms. "You two decided to spend your own little precious time watching over a corpse?" Kakarot quite didn't get the significance of this.

"But not too long ago she just vanished!" Dedana exclaimed. "Like out of nowhere."

"Must be Kami's doing right?" Ox asked his father.

"Who's Kami?" Pilaf asked.

"Don't worry about that," Kakarot said. He looked over to Pilaf. "We have business to get to, old friend."

"Hm?" Pilaf raised an eyebrow.

"In the past, you have used your brains to help me out with putting some perky additions to the space pod."

"Yes," Pilaf said. "That muffin thing I installed in there."

"From now on you and Soba are on Team Kakarot. While Dedana and I help rebuild the planet, I only need you to do two things for me."

"What's that?" Pilaf asked.

"One," Kakarot raised his finger. "I am going to need you upgrade my pod a bit more. Not that, but also two other pods that are around here somewhere just waiting to be used."

"Okay," Pilaf nodded his head. "You need to tell me what kind of upgrades, but what's the second one."

Kakarot whipped out a little green bean, which was in the palm of his hand. "You know what this is, correct?"

"Yes, I remember."

"I care not how long it takes of you to be able to make more copies of these, but you need to collect the money that you do have, possibly accumulate some more and get to work." Kakarot flicked the bean at Pilaf.

Pilaf caught it. "Ohhk? That it?"

"I'll inform you on more details later," Kakarot said as he began to elevate into the sky. He had absolutely no time to waste and was looking for the next thing to get to.

"Where are you going?" Ox asked.

"Business," Kakarot responded, smirking. "In the meantime, Ox, I will need you to go out and search for two round pods."

"How will I know what they look like?" Ox asked.

"You will realize when you see them. Big circular objects you can use to travel in. Besides mine, there are three other free ones lying around here that need to be picked up. You're strong enough to pick them up for me, I am sure."

"I can do that!' Ox exclaimed.

Kakarot nodded. "Good looking out, son." Kakarot looked over to Dedana and signaled for their leave by directing his head to his side. Dedana ascended off the ground as well and took off, following Kakarot.

Ox turned around to Pilaf and Soba. "It is really great to see you guys again!" Ox hugged the both of them.

"UGh!" Pilaf and Soba were both overwhelmed by the amount of love the kid was showing them both.

"I-..." Pilaf started to wheeze for air. "CAN'T BREATHE!"

"Oh!" Ox shot back. "Sorry, haha!" The little boy scratched his head. "I'm just really happy to see you guys again!"

"I can tell," Soba said, pointing to Ox's behind.

Pilaf and Soba noted that Ox was wagging his tail back and forth quickly. "You, too!" Ox said, pointing at Soba's tail.

"Aroo?" Soba made a confusing noise in a manner that only a dog would, whilst looking behind, just to see his tail wagging as well. "Huh! You're right."

"We can catch up later," Pilaf said. "You should focus on doing what your dad told you to."

"You're right." Ox took off into the sky. "I'll be back in a jiffy!"

* * *

Back at Kame house, Roshi was outside speaking with both Mr. And Mrs. Briefs, who were both getting ready to take their leave after residing there for safety matters. "It was a pleasure being here," Mr. Briefs said. "It's been a while since I've just relaxed and enjoyed the sun."

Roshi nodded. "No problem." The old man fixed his glasses and looked over to Mrs. Briefs. "And you..." the old man skipped his way over to her. "You're welcome anytime." Roshi opened his arms, offering the woman a hug.

Mrs. Briefs looked confused for a moment and looked over to her husband. "Well it's obvious he wants a hug dear," Mr. Briefs said as he lit a cigarette.

"Oh!" Mrs. Briefs reeled Mr. Roshi in. "Thank you!"

Roshi was consumed in heaven that moment. He had to hold back his chuckles as his face was being rubbed all over Mrs. Brief's chest. 'Hehehehe...this is the perfect reward for saving their lives.' The man was on the verge of having a nosebleed, but he wasn't letting that stop him from getting a good feel on the old lady.

After a good session hug, Mr. Briefs popped out a capsule and clicked it before throwing it to the ground. He watched as it converted into a jet. "Okay, honey! Let's go home!"

"Okay!" Mrs. Briefs detached herself from Roshi and ran on into the jet.

Roshi was just watching her run away. "Oh my..." the old man lowered his glasses, getting a good view. "You come back anytime you wish dear!" Roshi yelled.

"Of course!" Mrs. Briefs yelled back before starting his ride.

Inside were both Lazuli and Krillin, who both watched out the window. "I can't believe he actually let Master Roshi get away with that."

Lazuli shook his head. "If he tried that with me he'd get his teeth kicked in."

"You don't know how many times Bulma has already did that to him," Krillin said, sighing.

Lazuli snickered. Both watched as Roshi came into the door, wiping his nose with a napkin. He was walking as if he something was wrong, making weird movements. "Hey," Krillin called out. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." Roshi responded, fixing his glasses. "I...I just gotta go to the bathroom." Master Roshi awkwardly turned around and did just that, oddly walking as he made his way over to clean himself up.

"Wax on wax off," Turtle said from outside as he made his way into the water for a little swim. The turtle was disappointed in his master's lecherous ways, but he was far used to it. When he felt stressed, he'd just take a dip in the water.

Krillin and Lazuli both chuckled at Turtle's comment. Krillin looked up into the sky. "It's kind of hard to believe that just hours ago we were all fighting for our lives."

"Don't even remind me," Lazuli said. The only thing she could think of when it came to the fight was the death of her brother and how he was violently killed. It just flashed through her head and gave the blonde a total unpleasant feel.

"Just look out," Krillin advised, pointing his face out the window for Lazuli. "You see the sun shining bright, the illumination on the waters. It's as if nothing happened."

Lazuli did just that and looked out, taking as much scenery as she possibly could in. "Yeah...I guess you're right. Hm."

Krillin smiled. The two just had their arms resting on the top by the window, looking out. As the two were sitting next to each other, it was quiet. The peculiar sounds Roshi was making in the bathroom was just toned out by Krillin and Lazuli as they both quietly enjoyed the view. The both of them just had to forget about all the disastrous things that had been taking place. A moment passed and Lazuli leaned in closer to Krillin.

"Hm?" Krillin noted to how Lazuli now had her arms against his. He looked at her, seeing a smile on her face. Now Krillin was never much of a ladies man, but he could see a hint if one gave it to him. Originally he was kind of nervous as nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Albeit the fact that he felt mildly apprehensive, Krillin just smiled back.

In the bathroom, Roshi had just silently exited. "Phew...thank you Mrs. Briefs..." he said aloud. Looking ahead of him he could see both Krillin and Lazuli both of their faces together, lips touching. "Oh..." Roshi instantly went into mouse mode, not wanting to have them break from one another and see him. The old man started to silently tiptoe his way to the side, by the stairs. Slowly he began to walk backward while going up.

As he made it up the stairs, Roshi had his eyes on them still, watching as they had a passionate kiss. But suddenly, the old man stopped. Looking back at the two he realized he'd miss something if he just left. Roshi silently chuckled. "It's just getting good...heheheehe..." The old man figured why the hell not and stayed for the show.

Back at Capsule Corp Kakarot and Dedana was in Bulma's office. Kakarot sat across from Bulma in a chair while Bulma was behind her desk. Dedana was in the back, looking over family pictures, and images of art. As seconds flew by, mouths were not moving. It was completely silent inside the office.

* * *

"Sorry about the scar," Kakarot said, starting the conversation off.

"Heh..At least you killed the bastard who did it to me."

Kakarot chuckled, as did Bulma. Having got the environment no longer feeling as uncomfortable, Kakarot placed his hands on her desk. "Now I know we have sort of a, uhm, history if you wish to call it that. But I would love to make it up by working together in order to bring this world back to the state it was once in."

"I would like that as well," Bulma replied.

"My partner, Dedana, will do as much as you tell her, whenever, however, wherever. But you and I need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible."

Bulma nodded. "We can start by visiting the King."

"When exactly?" Kakarot asked.

"In a couple of days, perhaps a few weeks. When he's done with whatever he's got to do since he is also a busy man."

"Very well," Kakarot responded.

"In the meantime, you'll need to collect the money that you do have, possibly accumulate some more and get ready for whatever we have to do."

The only man in the room took a liking to how Bulma worded that and was sold. "Done," Kakarot responded quickly. "How can I contact you when he's ready?"

"I'll go over to your house..or lack thereof."

"Heh." Kakarot gave a mild chuckle at Bulma's passive aggressive humor. Although it was kind of funny because Kakarot's current house was still in literal pieces. "Very well." Kakarot stood up. "By the way...you think you could allow a friend of mines to come through? He has some personal assignments to work on."

"Hm?" Bulma looked back at Kakarot. She knew very well the man standing before her was not only a fighter but also a businessman. Then again, not just a businessman, but also a very astute one. But she knew Kakarot well enough to see he was not in the same business as her. So for whatever reason Kakarot needed one of his people to come through, there had to be something more to that. "What exactly does your wine business have to do here with Capsule Corp?"

"Oh, it's nothing pertaining to wine at all, Ms. Briefs. He won't bother you. He just needs a big room you can put him in so he can get to work."

"How big?"

"About ten times the size of your office," Kakarot answered, looking around the room.

"Lucky for you, we already have one."

Kakarot was glad to hear that. Now he didn't have to worry about pitching in money to help finding a grandiose room, although Bulma, being apart of the most successful business, would have to have a big room as a prerequisite. "It was nice doing business with you." He stretched out his hand.

"Sure," Bulma said, keeping her eyes on the papers next to her. Although she could obviously see Kakarot's hand waiting to be shaken, she ignored it.

Kakarot took down his hand and just smiled. He didn't take it personally at all. While back then as a kid he would usually confront Bulma on such disrespect, Kakarot realized her aggression towards him, after losing loved ones himself, Kakarot understood. She was still never quite over what had happened years ago between them. "See you around." Kakarot started to exit. "Let's go, Dedana."

And now, all the dominoes that had fallen down because of the evil intruders were slowly beginning to be set up once more. They were going to rebuild.


	25. Speeches

As everyone was starting to get things back set in place on earth, they weren't the only ones in the universe still out and entirely active. A couple of weeks had transpired since the saiyans had all decided to come and try to conquer their world. Even though many weren't particularly worried about Vegeta at the current moment, the saiyan was still alive and kicking.

The closest Planet away from Planet Earth owned by Freeza, the worst loan shark of all the universe, was Planet Freeza 79. Inside one of the many buildings that were on this dark planet, two soldiers were on duty, playing a game of space chess.

"So then when we landed on this planet, the weather was atrocious. It being a heavy gravitated planet, it was nothing but hurricanes and hailstorms. Just about the worst purge I have ever been on, I swear." The man talking took the physical appearance of a person who looked like he could be from earth, even though he wasn't. The white hair would show him as kind of old.

"Heh." The man that responded was obviously an alien due to his purple skin and pointy head. He had moved another piece as he spoke "You think that's bad? We went to an 85% water planet, 5 times the gravity here one time to collect our pay."

"You're joking."

"Not even the worst part. They had two suns, and it was blazing hot."

"So what happened exactly?" the more human-like man asked as he moved his piece. Wherever his partner was going with this, he expected something interesting. Due to this, he lost a bit of focus as he moved his piece.

"It was at the peak of hurricane season when we got there," the man finished, knocking down one of his compatriot's pieces. "Checkmate."

"Damn. I'm not even mad you beat me. I'm more surprised you managed to make it out alive. of that hellish world."

"Hm. Me, too."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The two both looked at the pad of buttons, one of the round circular shape ones making a noise. "Huh?" When they got that beeping sound in that area, it usually meant that someone was just arriving.

"Someone's coming," the alien that had won said.

The alien who lost had jumped up to see who was coming. "Is it Freeza?"

"Couldn't be. He's never even visited this planet yet."

"It's a fighter," the other said. "See? It's a round pod." Just by seeing the shape of the pod, they knew it was Freeza. Their ruler preferred to travel in a more elegant and bigger ship than all the other common soldiers.

"It's Vegeta's signal," the other said, with a slight bit of worry in his voice. And he had a reason to be worried. The name alone was well respected among many in the Freeza Force for a reason due to his merciless and violent fighting skill, not to mention his lofty fighting prowess.

"He just sent in a return signal. So wherever he is coming from must have been a success."

"Heh. Wonder how much he will be given. Not only just for Planet Anded, but for whatever other Planet he went off to as well."

"Right."

The pod came crashing safely into one of the equipment for the landing site. It was a soft padding, yet endurable enough to take a pod coming at thousands of miles per hour head-on. So Vegeta nor anyone else to come would get a bumpy landing back at base.

A few seconds pass and the pod opened. While once Vegeta entered the pod, he was a bit battle damaged. However a few weeks passed and the majority of his wounds were self-healed. The saiyan exited the pod and stepped out. Those embarrassing memories were still crystal clear in his mind, regardless of the weeks that had passed by with him traveling back to base.

Upon entering inside, Vegeta walked around, not saying a word. Many people took a couple glances at him, not believing that someone like Vegeta managed to get heavily damaged in whatever world he had just come from. He was mindlessly in his own thoughts, ignoring the stares of others. But upon initially walking through the corridors to the changing room, he could see countless eyes on them. He knew what they were thinking: how could a top soldier like Vegeta be so messed up? While his wounds were now in better shape, his beaten and torn down armor showed it all. The people just stared, however, not squeaking a word to Vegeta. Even if it was a compliment, they were likely to get a hard one square in the jaw.

'I should be making my way back to earth by tomorrow.' As he walked his path, Vegeta was planning ways of how he could extract his revenge. He couldn't go very long still with the embarrassment that was bestowed upon him on earth. He just couldn't let them do that. Vegeta knew he was stronger, so he was going to try and make his way back as soon as possible.

Vegeta turned around, happening to face a door. Automatically the metallic door slid open, allowing Vegeta to enter. Once the door opened, a few other aliens could be seen getting dressed. As they heard someone make an entrance, all of them looked back. The moment they laid eyes on Vegeta, their cool demeanor went down as the levels of anxiety shot right up.

Vegeta ignored the lot and went his way to go ahead and get dressed. A few eyes watched as the saiyan took off his battered armor and set them all on the floor as he got nude. Having all his old and worn out apparel on the ground, Vegeta went to slip on some new blue under attire. Even with his back turned he could feel the few eyes piercing his back.

As he put on his armor, Vegeta headed for new gloves to put on. As he slipped those on, he turned around. The moment Vegeta made a 90-degree turn, people's heads all jerked away from him, the lot trying to find something to make themselves seem like they were doing something else other than looking at Vegeta. A great amount of them all left out the door as Vegeta looked over every single each and one of them. "Hm." He scoffed at the cowards as they made their way through the exit.

However, feeling a presence on the side of him, Vegeta looked over to his left. A man was putting on his boots still. He didn't remove his eyes from Vegeta and had a rather friendly smile. "What exactly happened to you?" he asked as he put them on. Seeing he and Vegeta were alone, he decided to strike up a conversation.

Vegeta had never seen this face around, so whoever he was, he more than likely was new to how things went around there. "I beg your pardon?"

"Just by looking at your armor when you came in, it was apparent whoever you fought against messed you up bad." Now Vegeta understood that the person speaking to him was relatively new, but at the same token, Vegeta didn't like how he was being talked to. "You did kill them, right? Because if I were you, I'd make sure they all wished they were dead before sending them to hell."

Vegeta didn't respond and decided he'd be on his way. This stranger's comments were genuinely annoying him. Being smart and trying to be patient, Vegeta figured it'd be smarter to simply leave instead of knocking the man's head off before it was too late.

"You're not going to respond?" the man asked. He felt somewhat disrespected at the lack of respect he was being given by this stranger. "Tch! Someone's parents didn't teach them manners."

Vegeta stopped as soon as those last words came out their mouth. Slowly, the saiyan turned around. "Excuse me, but I don't think I quite caught your name." Letting his violent actions slowly get the best of him, Vegeta was to now confront the man.

"The name is Frut," he answered, his tone a bit more hostile than before.

"Interesting." Vegeta began to make his way towards the taller man. Even while many inches shorter, Vegeta's stare was completely cold and fearless. "I understand you being new here and all, but you should realize who is the most respected and dangerous upon looking at someone. I suggest you address me with more deference."

Frut chuckled, knocking off Vegeta's advice. "I'm the only mutant of all my people, already one of the strongest aliens of the entire army myself. Going on my first mission, I'm going to show you all why I'm an elite like very few here are."

"And what Planet would you happen to be going to?" Vegeta questioned. The saiyan knew there weren't truly very many planets with potent life forms left, so wherever Frut must have been headed, Vegeta figured he'd at least find out

"Planet Ruk."

"Ah." Vegeta folded his arms. "It's quite the challenge...for someone like you of course. Although I've heard quite a bit about that world."

Frut grinned. "Exactly why I'm taking the mission. When I come back you're going to see why I deserve to be just as feared and respected as you. Perhaps even more."

Vegeta's brows narrowed. "Is that so?"

Frut's grin widened. "Yes." The tone of his voice and how he moved with his body language showed that his confidence was through the roof.

But Vegeta had other thoughts in mind.

Behind the metallic doors, some of the soldiers were beginning to walk by, as they made conversation. Suddenly the doors on the side of them opened. Seeing who it was, they immediately backed up, letting Vegeta make his way through. The two guys passing by took a peep inside.

"Whoah!"

Inside, Frut could be seen with his head bashed in, body twitching. They both looked back to Vegeta, who was walking off as if nothing happened. They knew something had just happened, but things were so quiet.

Vegeta was disgusted, looking at his blood tainted gloves. 'Tch! I can't walk around this place without fools testing me all around, can I?' Vegeta continued to walk the corridors. 'So...what the hell can I do to pass the time?'

As Vegeta was starting to get into his deeper thoughts, as usual, a loudspeaker came on from the ceiling above. "Soldier Vegeta. Saiyan. Please report to HQ." His thoughts were immediately thrown to the side. Now he was wondering why he was being called.

The saiyan was a bit confused. 'What the hell could they possibly want me for?' he began walking to where he was told to go. 'By the sound of the voice, it sounded like Zarbon. Does that mean that Freeza's here?'

Well, Vegeta was certainly going to find out. A few minutes of walking and Vegeta eventually found himself behind the doors where he was sure Freeza and his lackeys were currently residing.

"I have taken quite a liking to the new scenery of this planet. It being night here suits my taste. I just might be here for longer than usual." Freeza, the evil, yet cunning man was the most feared across the universe. While his small appearance didn't seem like it would have someone shaking in their shoes, people knew of his reputation. He was the most merciless person to ever live and he'd show no hesitation to kill one if felt need be, even if it was for mere diversion.

And just then, Vegeta entered. 'Heh. Just as I thought.' Vegeta looked over everyone in the room. 'Freeza with his two stooges.'

"It is always such a delight to see you, Vegeta. How have you been holding up?"

"I've been just fine. And yourself?" Vegeta asked. Freeza didn't answer the question as quickly as Vegeta would have liked though. Instead, the short tyrant sitting in his hover chair took a sip of some fine wine, being silent. Vegeta rolled his eyes, realizing why Freeza was in hush mode. "Master Freeza."

"Oh!" Freeza's eyes brightly widened and were beaming, as if he was full of glee. "I have been quite well myself. Can't care to complain about too much."

"So what is the reason I am here for?" Vegeta asked, getting right to business. "Is it something important?"

"It wouldn't be urgent if we didn't have you before Lord Freeza, now would it Vegeta?" Zarbon asked. He was a slender green man with green, long hair placed into a single braid that passed his shoulders. He had a feminine look to him, but he had just as much respect as Vegeta did, if not, more.

Vegeta didn't respond and just awaited an answer to his question from the person he had asked. He knew better than to go up for back talk to superiors when Freeza was around. "What we want to know is how have you been selling?" Dodoria, one of Freeza's other lackeys, responded.

"Just fine," Vegeta stated dryly.

"If that is to be so, which I would under any different circumstance believe, why is it that I have yet to receive any reports of you selling any planets?" Freeza asked.

"I was on a side quest," Vegeta truthfully responded. "I just haven't had the chance to sell any of the planets I've conquered."

"Just how many have you got ready for sale?" Zarbon questioned.

"I have two," Vegeta answered. "Planet Anded included."

"Planet Anded?" Dodoria questioned. "Hehe. How'd that one go?"

"We can hear all about Vegeta's fun slaying weaklings later," Freeza said. "It's good that you have got them ready to sell. Planet Anded, in particular, will give you a good price. Some of their technology can be put to good use."

"Indeed," Zarbon said. "I've heard that it doesn't look like much, but their resources are something to keep definitely."

"I hear Planet Ruk is quite the same," Dodoria said.

"Planet Ruk? You mean the planet that the new soldier was supposed to take care of?" Vegeta asked.

"Yes," Zarbon said. "And how might you know about that?"

Vegeta smirked. "What was his name...hm..." Vegeta snapped his fingers. "Frut. Yes, him. Unfortunately, he won't be able to tend to that world anymore."

Freeza shook his head. He didn't even need to ask what happened, already well aware.

"Please tell me why do I feel as if you had something to do with it," Zarbon commented.

"More than likely because he did," Dodoria said. "You realize killing a soldier for no reason is not something we should be doing? Only one permitted to do so is Lord Freeza. And you're not at his level to be doing that sort of thing."

"Please explain your side of the story," Freeza said. "It's not like we're going to be hearing the other half anyhow..." he added, rolling his eyes.

Vegeta stifled a snicker, having been pleased by Freeza's last sentence. "To put it short, the fool didn't know his place. Flat out disrespecting one's superiors around here is known to be resulted in exact execution or a battle in the training room to show one who is of higher status."

"Hm." Zarbon flipped his long braid to the back. "If you say so, Vegeta."

"I really doubt it, but I honestly don't care." Dodoria remarked. "Just another weakling."

"That is completely understandable Vegeta," Freeza said. "Quite honestly I see where you are coming from. Just put things into my perspective. I have to kill at least one soldier a day to keep the dingbats away."

Vegeta grinned. "I'm glad you get my point."

"Although it doesn't mean you will just get off for free," Freeza added.

"Hm?" Vegeta raised a brow. 'Just what does he have in mind...?' Seeing there was definitely a catch, Vegeta just happened to be caught a bit off guard.

"Since you decided to take it upon yourself to handle business and eradicate of the fool you claim to have shown a lack of respect towards you, I now personally put the task of taking out Planet Ruk to you. Once you are done, you will go out to sell then a surplus of three planets." Freeza could note an uncomfortable look on Vegeta's face and was smiling wide, yet internally.

"Think of it as more of a reward than a punishment," Zarbon told Vegeta. "You get to sell three planets now. I doubt you'd have to go out and sell any planets for a good and long time."

"Try to see it from a good side," Dodoria said, smirking. "While the way there and back will take up an entire year, you will reap the benefits greatly."

"Very well." The saiyan knew all of what they were saying was complete B.S. but he just ignored it and continued on his way. Vegeta began to turn around and make his way out.

"But that is not all," Freeza said, having Vegeta seize his exit. The saiyan turned around. "I just wanted to know...have you seen Kiwi anywhere?"

Vegeta considered telling Freeza the truth at first, going to gloat about how he was the one to take Kiwi out with next to no problem when everyone always assumed the two to be equals, but he decided maybe he could get a kick out of things and see how long it would take before they would have to realize that Kiwi is gone...forever. Vegeta simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "The last time I saw him was before I left to attend another planet."

"Then don't worry about it," Freeza said, waving Vegeta off. "You may be on your way."

Vegeta turned around and exited the room. As he made his way back to walk towards his pod, the saiyan was cursing in his head. 'What a fool I am! Had I not killed that idiot I wouldn't be in this situation.' Vegeta clinched his fists, just remembering the beating he got. 'I should have stayed and finished the job...' Taking a deep breath, Vegeta relaxed himself. He could tell soldiers and staff around him could feel the tense vibe coming from Vegeta and that scared them.

'The only upside is...I get to blow off some steam...'

* * *

Bulma and Kakarot were both in the King's building, where they spoke to King Furry. Of course, after his previous castle was destroyed thanks to the battle between Kakarot and King Piccolo way back, he got a few upgrades. "It's good to know we can all work together," King Furry told the two. I have heard of the Briefs' family name for quite a long time, even before I had become King." He then looked to Kakarot. "And I can't count the many times I have seen your face up on television commercials and billboards. I just know it's been enough that you've been in a dream of mine."

"I'd like to know about that dream," Kakarot said half-jokingly.

"Maybe some other time," King Furry chuckled. "But right outside we have hundreds of thousands of survivors willing to help restore our world to what it once was before. We can't keep them waiting."

"Let's be on our way out," Bulma said, leading the path.

"You heard the woman," King Furry said as he followed behind Bulma.

Yes, King Furry mentioned there being a plethora of people outside waiting for the lot. One could just say 'Ohh, that's a lot!' But to actually see it was an entirely different thing.

And once those doors opened, Bulma and Kakarot both got a taste of what it was like.

Kakarot's eyes shot open wide. He was truly impressed. The loud cheers, yelling and clapping coming from thousands of people at once out of the gate of the King's castle was far overwhelming. Bulma had to cover her ears.

As the people were cheering, some tried to actually get in. Luckily, guards and soldiers were all there and able to prevent anyone from getting in the gates.

"I didn't think it'd be this loud!" Bulma shouted so the others could hear her. The woman put some cotton in her ears just to suppress the insane amount of noise a bit.

"Settle down, settle down everyone!" a familiar voice from afar said over a megaphone. Slowly, the noise was beginning to die down. He was waiting patiently for everyone to get quiet.

"Who is he?" Bulma asked, a bit confused.

Kakarot took a closer look at the man speaking over the megaphone. "Vino," Kakarot smirked.

"Heya!" someone came from the side, introducing himself.

"Nice of you to tag along," King Furry said, shaking Duvin's hand.

"I didn't expect to have you here supporting," Kakarot told Duvin.

Duvin rubbed the back of his head, a big smile on his face. "You are the face of the wine industry now," he responded. "As you are the man leading by example, it'd be kind of bad to not do what you're doing. Besides, it's a good way to get our name known to the other side of the world even."

"So you're just doing this so more people can come buy your products," Bulma huffed. "Should have known..."

Having managed to calm the crowd down, Vino made his way over to Bulma as he had overheard the conversation. "No. It's not just that. We need our world to regain the life it once had. Not that it's also bad to get our name on the map just as big as capsule corporation."

"Indeed." Kakarot agreed, moving his head up and down.

"May I see the megaphone?" King Furry asked, his hand out.

"Yes, of course!" Vino handed King Furry the megaphone.

Now that a great bit of the audience was silenced, King Furry went to speak through the megaphone. "Okay, everyone! Now that I have your attention, it's good we don't waste time! Also, may I say, from the bottom of my heart, it is truly a pleasure that you all have decided to come and support! We know you all have families in some part of the world that need to be taken care of and we truly appreciate the fact you have taken the time out of your day and came here to subsidize a great cause this world truly needs." A few claps were heard from all around the audience.

Vino leaned over to Kakarot's shoulder. "Where in the hell exactly were you when the Red Ribbon Army decided they were going to come and try to take over the world?"

"I was not even on this world," Kakarot responded.

Vino was a bit put off by what Kakarot said. He obviously needed Kakarot to specify much more to him. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'll tell you later," Kakarot said. He and Vino looked back to the King, who was getting ready to finish his speech to the crowd.

"And so with me, I have a few that will be a major help with regaining the great life we once had in this world. One of them, as we all surely know, is Bulma! The great, intelligent daughter of Dr. Briefs, the founder of Capsule Corp." Furry waited until some of the clappings had died down before he was to introduce Kakarot. "And here... besides me, is the founder of the greatest, and tastiest wine known to man, Kakarot! Just starting off his very own business at the young age of 19, he has come a long way and hopes to give back the service a great lot of you have given to him over his first few years as an entrepreneur. Give him a warm welcome everyone!"

And a warm welcome he was indeed given. Not only did the crowd clap, but a bit of them cheered Kakarot on as well. Kakarot couldn't help but feel pride in the great success he has had in just so few years. His charismatic smile that everyone got to see on advertisements did happen to pay off after all.

Back at Capsule Corp, Pilaf was working on the pods that Kakarot had ordered him to do so. Ox was with them, but he wasn't just doing anything. The boy was rather smart and he, too, wanted to put his brain power to the test.

Ox, while liking the fact he was able to spend time with old family friends, was also having a hard time. The boy was helping out Pilaf with the Senzu beans and trying to find ways he could regrow them, as Pilaf couldn't do it all by himself. Soba was around doing much of nothing, just helping the two out whenever they called for something they could use at the moment.

Ox sat back in the cheer, a bit stressed out from trying too hard. He could only find just a few ingredients in the bean that he knew he could get from any nearby store. But the rest he saw were unheard of to him. He needed them all and had to figure out just exactly how these beans were to grow. Unbeknownst to him, every time he moaned or sighed in a frustrated manner, there would be a white cat just laughing at the kid from above.

Ox looked over to the T.V. where he saw Bulma speaking. "Hey!" Ox yelled, pointing right at the t.v. "Bulma and my dad are on!"

Pilaf removed his welder helmet, stopping himself from continuing to work on the attack pods so he could look at the t.v. "Huh?" He couldn't hear very much of what was being said, but he saw very familiar faces on it. This caught his attention and he wanted to hear more from it. "Hey, Soba! Turn it up will ya?"

"Gotcha!" Soba quickly got the remote and turned up the volume.

* * *

Having just finished her own speech, the audience was clapping wildly. Bulma had spoken of her reasons as for why she wanted to help and explained exactly what she was going to do. And did the crowd love it. Just by her speaking, their expectations of regrowth had increased exponentially. "Here you go." Bulma handed Kakarot the megaphone.

Kakarot grabbed it. "Well, everyone! I can't really expand on what I am going to do as I will be doing just exactly what Mrs. Briefs will be doing, but onto other sections that need help. But getting to the reason as to why I truly want to help out..." Nothing. Nothing more was coming out of Kakarot's mouth. Kakarot started off as if he had the ball rolling immediately, ready to spill all of what was on his mind.

Everyone in the audience was a bit on edge, as all they were expecting Kakarot to continue at any moment. However, the most they could hear was his light, smooth breathing. "Sir?" Vino asked.

King Furry was a bit confused, as well as Bulma, too. The purple haired woman knew Kakarot was a well-spoken person, so speeches would kind of be a thing for him. So...what could possibly be holding him back from speaking at an important moment like this one?

Duvin had a bright smile on his face the entire time. The man had all the confidence in Kakarot and unlike a lot of people, didn't suspect the man of having stage fright or anything.

Kakarot looked over back to Duvin. "Duck!"

"Huh?" Duvin looked back over to Kakarot. He knew what the man had told him, but he wasn't quite sure as to why Kakarot was just warning him so abruptly after a long pause.

'Dammit!' Kakarot could tell something was immediately off that moment, which was the reason he was silent for a short while. He was feeling out the audience, as he felt something not so good was emitting from it. He was just merely trying to pinpoint who and being able to warn some of them. Looking into the audience, Kakarot caught a bright yellow beam coming right for Duvin.

Vino had seen it as well, but he'd be far too slow to be able to save Duvin from certain death.

Duvin still looked at Kakarot, confused, and in-cognizant of the fact that a killer attack was making its way right towards him.

'Tch.' Kakarot had to use a bit of his strength in order to zoom his way over by Duvin. With the back of his hand, Kakarot smacked away the attack far into the clouds.

Everyone from the audience was shaking at what had just taken place. Not one single person in the crowd had even seen a glimpse of the beam until Kakarot had redirected it into the air.

"What was that?" a man of the audience questioned.

King Furry witnessed this type of energy before and didn't get not one good feeling from it. All he could remember were the demonic powers from Piccolo Daimao and simply hoped a repeat wasn't going to take place. "Whatever this is...I don't have a good feeling about it."

"Who was that?" Bulma asked Kakarot.

Vino looked over to Kakarot. "Do you know?"

Many sounds and loud murmurs were coming from the entire crowd, all of them bewildered as to what had just transpired that moment. Whatever did happen, it was far too fast for the average human eye to even see.

Kakarot looked over the crowd, trying to spot the assailant. 'Bastard...still hiding behind someone.'

The guards had their guns up and prepared, ready to attack whoever was willing to harm innocents. All of them were on their toes as they even weren't able to see anything.

"Show yourself!" one of the guards yelled, a great bit of nervousness in his voice.

Everyone was silent, looking around desperately to find anyone even remotely evil looking, as if they had bad intentions from the get-go. Kakarot noted the worried looks on everybody's face. The man shook his head in disappointment. "Did everyone forget I was the champion of the Tenkaichi Budokai...and saved the earth from its greatest danger." Kakarot then decided to raise his voice. "Why don't you show yourself?" he asked. And he waited, as did everyone else. Having not seen who he wanted to see, Kakarot decided he would go ahead and go on insulting. "I see...still the same coward you were way back...Tsuru."

And just like good bait to any fish, it was taken immediately. Out from the crowd was Tsuru-sennin, pushing people out of the way violently. "Heh! Long time no see, huh?"

Kakarot looked upon Tsuru. There was absolutely nothing different about his former master. "Still the same mischievous senior citizen, I see..."

Nearly everyone recognized who this face was and immediately backed up. "I was hoping to catch your attention with that and boy did I." Tsuru's wide, malicious smile had a great number of people trembling.

"Are you apart of this?" Bulma asked Kakarot, nearly panicking.

"I'm no longer with him," Kakarot responded to Bulma. "He's just a forgotten memory of the past trying to keep up with the times when he should be at home brooding over regrets and reading the newspaper like every other regular old person."

"I promised myself I would kill you after the tournament, both my brother and I! Unfortunately when I made it to the crowd of people who thought you were dead, you were gone. Once I heard of you being alive, I had to try and find you. I ended up kicking myself for months upon figuring out all I had to do was just go to the nearest city."

"You're still not over this?" Kakarot asked. Tsuru wanted to kill him for just getting up and leaving to be trained by Tao years ago. If not for that, then for the fact that he didn't play into Tsuru's little game of killed or be killed in the finals of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai when he had to face Tien.

"Of course not!" Tsuru stuck out his index finger right for Kakarot. "Your time as an entrepreneur must have more than likely taken up a good bit of your time to continue your fighting. I bet you're nowhere near as strong as you were as a kid."

"You have no clue...do you?"

"Hehehehe..." Tsuru's fingers began to glow. "I surely do."

"Put your hand down right now!" one of the soldiers yelled. He and a group of other men were ready to shoot at any given moment now. They'd do anything to protect their King, as was their job. If they had to kill, then so be it.

Tsuru just gave a quick look at the men who ordered him to lower his weapon and looked back to Kakarot. Instead, the yellow glow in his index finger increased in size. "How about...no."

"OPEN FIRE!"

The moment those two words were heard by everyone, numerous bodies began to duck instantly, not wanting to get hit by accident.

With his other free hand, Tsuru just caught all the bullets that were being shot at him automatically. This went on for a while now, though he showed absolutely no sings of slowing down.

Bulma's mouth was agape, as well as King Furry. Just seeing him doing this type of thing gave him bad memories of Piccolo way back.

"W-What is he?" the top soldier asked, gulping. Never before had he witnessed something of this nature.

"Heh." Tsuru opened his closed fist. As it opened, dozens of bullets slowly began to fall out of the palm of his hand. "Worthless weapons." He put his eyes back on Kakarot. "Prepare to die!"

Kakarot was a bit pissed. "No..." The saiyan shot his way over to Tsuru. Nobody was able to see him move when he did. In not even a second, Kakarot was just mere yards away from Tsuru. Tsuru's index finger was closed shut by Kakarot. Tsuru didn't even realize it was Kakarot before him until he seen that he couldn't release his attack any longer.

"H-How..." Tsuru was growling, getting more and more infuriated by the second. Trying to pull himself away from Kakarot was completely futile.

"I always planned on taking you out as well," Kakarot informed Tsuru. "But the stronger I got, the more my memories of you faded away. But since an opportunity to rid of you forever has appeared, I'll make sure to not pass it up."

Even through his dark shades, Kakarot could feel the fear envelop into Tsuru. The Saiyan enjoyed this and simply smiled. "Your brother won't be far behind." Kakarot raised Tsuru by his index finger, bringing the man's feet off the ground. "Off you go!" With a simple throw, Tsuru was sent hundreds of yards into the air.

Everyone got back up, able to hear the man's cries from afar. Stretching his hand out, Kakarot let off a mini ball of energy, which would be more than enough to rid of Tsuru. People from below's fear of Tsuru was diminishing rapidly as Kakarot just rid of him.

Turning around, Kakarot began to make his way back up the stage where he was speaking, ignoring the fact that a huge explosion just occurred in the sky. No longer feeling a trace of Tsuru's ki, Kakarot knew the job was done.

Kakarot got back onto the stage, now looking over everyone. So many faces full of fear were now full of glee and relief, some still cared, though the confident and charismatic smug look on Kakarot's face assured some of the people they had nothing to worry about. Bulma, Furry, Vino, and Duvin were all extremely impressed with how efficient Kakarot managed to resolve a hostile scenario. Getting the megaphone, Kakarot spoke into it.

"Now...where was I?"


	26. A Day In The Life

The speech Kakarot had given among the common folk was very inspiring to the masses. Every single word he had spoken was closely paid attention to. Every letter and syllable was taken to heart. Knowing they were going to have rich people help out communities all around the world, people were excited and all got to work. There was no time to be wasted and everyone played their own parts. Of course, this process would take time. And many of it has passed.

Just a couple of months to be exact.

In a rather dark area, the room being illuminated by a variety of different colored lights, work was going on. As the worker in the lab continued to progress into his projects, his right-hand man behind him, android 19, was sealed in a capsule. Deciding to preserve 19, Gero had temporarily shut him off. Even still after a third of a year had passed, Dr. Gero was taking more time on his projects than he initially thought he would actually have to.

"Ah..." Dr. Gero took a step back. There lied Officer Black, who actually suggested to be the first of Dr. Gero's new works: a cyborg. While Dr. Gero was a near expert at being able to make energy sapping androids, he was still finding out ways to make cyborgs. Gero was using countless types of machinery to make his first project come to fruition. His face was one full of concentration. This being his genuine first type trying to convert a human into a blown out cyborg, there was no room for error. If he were to make one tiny little mistake, there was a huge possibility he would fail. And that would be at the cost of Officer Black's life.

Taking a step back, Gero looked over Officer Black. The man that was being worked on was given large, heavy doses of anesthesia. It was a lot, but Gero made sure it was enough to keep Black knocked out for long periods of time, but also alive and functioning properly. This constant work was rather tedious, but Gero's determination for revenge was what kept him going.

Gero figured he would take a break. Even as he converted himself into an android that didn't rely as much on normal functions of the human body as any other regular person, Gero found his work a tad bit overwhelming, that Officer Black wasn't the only person he was currently working on at the time. Turning around Gero started to make his way towards a giant fridge.

On this locked fridge was a keypad. Pressing the buttons on the keypad at an extremely fast rate for just a few seconds had enabled Gero to enter it as he had put the correct passcode in. Slowly the man opened it. As he stared at the material inside, there was just an emotionless expression plastered on his face. He readily accepted the fact that something like this would take place, but not in the manner that it did.

In the fridge were human body parts, appendages, and limbs wrapped in plastic inside the deep freezer. With the embalming being done to the body parts, they were fresh and not going to decompose any time soon. Gero let out a deep breath. He had long converted himself into an energy-sapping android and cut off everything of his past that had to do with him, except his own child. "Such a horrible way to go...my son." Gero always thought that his son would be one to go out in a line of duty, being a high ranking soldier of the Red Ribbon Army. While technically the man did, this was simply overkill, having to find his son in pieces. Taking a simple glance back at Black, he looked back to the left parts of his own son's body. "Eventually, I will get to you as well. You will be the strongest model to make once I have some experience with this current model I am creating. That's a promise. And you will fall soon..." Gero went on to close the fridge. Every day he would use this as motivation. No longer was it Gero's goal to simply take over the planet earth as his own. But he wanted revenge. "Ox, son of Kakarot."

Ox himself was having a chill day in his house-his new house to be exact. It wasn't as big as the last one he used to reside in, but it was rather big, in the middle of nowhere, as the other was before. Personally, for Ox having a chill day was at least reading one-fourth of an entire book, or working on something, or fighting. Just something to do and take up the majority of his time. And as four months passed, he was still yet to find the source of being able to grow a senzu bean from scratch.

* * *

So catching up on his agricultural knowledge, reading up and soaking information on tillage was a way in which Ox was hoping to find some type of useful info.

"Ox!" a voice yelled from behind the door.

The boy had been reading for a while and had found himself in the zone, reading in a quick, yet deliberate manner, still able to internalize the information he was catching up on. Although, luckily for him, he just finished one of the chapters immediately prior to being distracted. So he wouldn't lose track of where he was after answering. "Yeah?!"

"Come here!"

Ox was kind of confused. Only him and Dedana were currently in the house, alone. But as moments passed by, Ox slowly started to pick up on as to why Dedana wanted him to leave the room. The sweet aroma of a home cooked meal quickly made its way inside the boy's nostrils. Ox quickly searched over around his desk, hurrying as he was obviously looking for something. "Gosh...darn it. Where did I put that bookmark?" Ox didn't want to have to find where he was last at and just wanted to get to the next chapter as soon as possible when he got back.

"You don't want your food getting cold, do you?!" Dedana asked, yelling through the house so she could be heard.

"Ugh!" Ox stopped looking for the bookmark that he had lost. Just taking a quick glance at the book, he would just have to leave it up to his brain to remind him. "Hm. Chapter 26! Gotcha!" He shut the book closed, hoping he would be able to remember.

"Ox!" Dedana yelled once more, trying to get the kid inside the kitchen before the food was to turn even slightly cold.

"Coming!" Ox shouted back, hopping off his high chair, running his way to the kitchen, where the food was. Even though knowing step by step exactly where the kitchen was, Ox simply let his nose guide him. While he couldn't completely explain it, Ox figured that it was just something instinctual. Kakarot had told him at one time that he does the exact same thing, too.

Dedana stood in the kitchen, just silently waiting on Ox to make it there. The floor being extra clean and Ox wearing fresh socks, the boy came sliding into the kitchen, making an entrance as if he was a rock star on stage. "YO!"

Dedana had a golly ole smile on her face. "Dinner is served!"

Ox was still a short little guy, and the counter was a bit tall. Elevating himself by using a stool, he managed to see over the many dishes that Dedana had prepared for him. It was way passed the afternoon and dinner time was one of his favorite times of the day. "Holy..." He looked over the countless plates set on the counter. "There has to be at least 2 dozens of plates...filled up completely!" He wasn't even aware that Dedana was entirely capable of cooking up such a meal.

"2 and a half dozen," Dedana corrected proudly. "Does it look good?"

Ox nodded his head vigorously. "It looks good! I just have to see how it tastes!"

Fish, okra, hot mashed potatoes, dumplings, sushi, various types of meats. Vegetables and fruits were all on this enormous counter inside the house. As any cook would, Dedana took deep pride in the fact that Ox was so amazed as to what she had prepared in the kitchen. It only boosted her ego due to the fact that she didn't even put 100% effort into making the meals.

But then she realized something was the matter. Ox wasn't touching anything. "You...can dig in. You know that, right?" Dedana asked, her enthusiasm beginning to falter.

"Y-yeah." Ox then looked to Dedana. "This just reminds me so much of my mom. She'd make meals like these all the time." Ox hadn't thought of his mom in a while, and he only had the smell and sight of delicious food bring it back. He felt slightly ashamed for that being the only thing able to have him reminisce his mother's presence. But not only that, but he felt a bit guilty due to the fact he was genuinely carefree without her not in the household for such a long time.

This was the first time that Dedana had even cooked anything for him. He was nothing but amazed at the sight. If he hadn't known it was cooked by Dedana, he would have automatically assumed it was his mother that somehow performed the dish with a miracle.

Dedana could see the boy frowning at the thought of her. "You shouldn't be sad, Ox." Dedana walked over by the kid's side. Placing a hand on the boy's shoulders, she went to try and console him. "You should keep in mind that she will come back. Four months flew by just like that!" Dedana snapped her fingers. "Trust me. Be happy. You'll be even happier when she comes back."

Those kind words Dedana shared with Ox put him in a slightly better mood. To be quite frank, Dedana was completely right in whatever she was telling Ox. There was truly no reason to be upset. Peace was restored, people were rebuilding, and in no time his mom would be right back at the house as if everything was normal. So no, Ox didn't have anything to worry about at all.

"Bon appetit!" Dedana told the little boy, just waiting until Ox would pick one of her many delicious meals and dig right in.

But once more, Ox was still. Looking at his food, he was only blinking excessively. It was as if he had a confused expression on his face like he was trying to solve some sort of problem in his own mind before chowing down. "Uhm..."

Dedana was secretly hoping that the kid didn't find anything repulsive about the food she cooked. She put a decent amount of effort into prepping this meal for the boy and didn't want it all to just go to waste. "What's the matter?" Dedana asked, with a bit of edge in her voice.

"Are you going to eat, too?" Ox asked. The boy didn't feel right eating all of the food by himself. Dedana did just prepare everything by herself. Not letting her get a good taste of her own work and taking it all for himself would make Ox feel a little stingy, and that wasn't something he quite was. Just not in his character.

Dedana gave Ox a confused expression on her face. In her mind, she was a slave to Kakarot. And since Ox was Kakarot's offspring, she figured she could provide the boy with her own useful services as well, especially since Kakarot was out and about still going on with the project of helping to restore the planet alongside Bulma. "Ehm, no. That's all yours."

Ox gave the woman an odd look. "But you made this." Ox looked at all the foods. While he definitely enjoyed food, his appetite wasn't very much like his father's. He could eat all the dishes that were served to him, although he was okay with sharing this and not stingy like Kakarot. His father, however, would need triple the amount just to be decently satisfied.

"So?" Dedana questioned. "It's all yours."

Ox looked back to his food. Truly he was hesitant to dig in. While he was hungry at the moment, he knew he could share. And for Dedana to put in so much work and not even get a sample just irked Ox. "No. Try it."

Dedana scoffed. "No," she said, waving her hand as she rejected his offer. "Really, it's all yours."

"I'm serious!" Ox urged Dedana. The aroma of the obviously delectable food was getting to him. At any moment he was just going to take a huge bite out of pure impulse. "Don't you smell that? Are you telling me you can walk past that without even thinking about having a taste?"

"You should just eat," Dedana told the boy. "I made it all for you."

"I want you to try it," Ox responded to her. Dedana was silent for a moment. Ox could even feel the atmosphere getting a bit awkward. "Really," he continued to insist. Grabbing a piece of baked fish off his plate he dangled it in her face. "Try it."

Dedana stared at Ox, looking right through the thoroughly cooked fish with a blank expression on her face. While she could smell the food, her body wasn't really telling her to go right at it and chow down on it as any saiyan or average human for that matter would. "No. I did this all for you. I am your slave after all."

As Dedana started going rambling on as she usually does, Ox was just listening. 'She can't be serious right now,' the kid thought in his head. 'She's just as persistent as dad is. Won't she just try and taste it? Like seriously?' Ox just looked at Dedana, the vocal sounds coming from her mouth were just not making its way to Ox's ears. Not paying next to any attention to what she was saying at all, he was getting rather bored. 'Hm...' Ox watched as she kept on prating about her duties and why she actually enjoys doing what she does, Ox came up with a little idea. 'She just completely forgot I'm even here...heh.'

Dedana didn't stop maundering at all. So much that she didn't catch the little mischievous smile that Ox had. She talked non stop for an entire minute or so. But she was shut up by no other than Ox himself. The boy was getting a bit aggravated, his food getting cold, so he ended this by shoving the entire BoNeless fish down her throat.

Dedana's mouth was wide open the moment Ox had placed the fish into her mouth. Having been caught by surprise, Dedana's eyes were completely wide as she had no idea what had just hit her. "Hmmm..."

Ox was smiling. "Now do you see? It's good isn't it?"

Dedana raised up her index finger, chewing the food well. Having her eyes closed, Ox could tell she was genuinely enjoying the very meal that she had made herself. "GULP!" Ox giggled. "Okay..." Dedana took a deep breath. "Where I come from in my world, my people aren't required to truly eat. If anything we drink the blood from animals that reside in our world. That's what we do. Our appetites are one of the smallest on the planet."

"So...would you still like to eat with me?" Ox asked, inviting Dedana to try with him. Dedana's eyes rolled off to the top corner. Placing her hand on her cheek, she began to ponder on it. "You can tell me all about your people while we're eating," Ox added. "To pass the time."

"Ah..." Dedana raised her hands in defeat. "Why the hell not? Haha."

"Yeah!" Ox nearly shouted in excited, coming out victorious. "You're going to love it. I promise."

"Ha, whatever you say, chump." Placing a behind in the stool directly next to Ox, Dedana began to eat alongside Ox, taking in small bites. Both had just a good a conversation as they did dinner. So their night was going to run just smooth.

* * *

Back at Kame house, inside, Master Roshi was having some fun. He sat right in front of the T.V. watching women in tight clothing doing various exercises. The old man was so focused on it that he didn't pay any attention to the noise that Krillin was making outside.

Turtle was close to every one of Roshi's friends and they all got along with him. But every time when Krillin and Lazuli would train, separately or together, he would always make sure that he was ready to place his head into his shell for safety if needed to do so.

Krillin was training alone this time though. Turtle made sure to place himself in a safety area under a long beach chair, where Lazuli was sitting back, watching Krillin. Said bald martial artist concentrated deeply, ignoring any type of sound that would distract him from his own training.

He paid attention to how soft and smooth the flow of the ocean was, how the bright sun was beginning to set, also seeing the red skies due to the setting sun. Taking in how strong the winds were coming, and the scent of the waters and those around him, he began to slowly motion himself. Krillin began to raise his arms, placing them together. Eventually, he had cupped his hands and began to reel them towards his stomach.

"Kame..." Krillin began to chant the very move his master had taught him. He could feel the hot energy beginning to form in his hands, albeit it would take a few more seconds until it became visual. "Hame..." the blue energy into his hands were now growing visual, the bright light being easily noticeable to anybody. Turtle noted this and slowly started to tuck his head into his shell. Krillin waited a few moments, his ball of energy continuing to grow. While Krillin didn't want to use a good amount of energy to unleash, he needed to make sure he used a decent amount so he could get some work put in for today's training.

Throwing his hands out, Krillin had his hands pointing directly across from him, which was nothing but water ahead. The only things that had a chance of getting hurt inside the water were crustaceans. "HAAAAA!"

"Oh no!" With great rapidity, Turtle placed his head inside his shell. The amount of ki Krillin had used was a great bit larger than the others he would use. Although this being the last one, Krillin decided to go out with a bang.

Lazuli just smiled, the only expression being able to be seen was her mouth as her eyes were covered by the shades she wore for the time being. She, unlike Turtle, was not afraid and watched as the great Kamehameha parted a decent part of the ocean. One would be able to actually walk through without a problem, giant waves just being held at bay by each side.

Krillin watched as the Kamehameha attack died down. He was breathing heavier than usual for sure as the waves began to settle back down subsequent to his wave of energy disappearing. "Heh." Krillin felt good about his hard work, it pays off slowly but surely. "I think I'll call it a day for right now."

"Not too bad," Lazuli commented. "You have improved a good bit over the first few months."

"Thank you," Krillin said, having truly appreciated Lazuli's comment. "That's what nonstop, 24/7, seven days a week type of training gets you to, ya know." Krillin winked at her.

"Eh..." Lazuli scoffed. "I could do better."

"Then why don't you come up and do it yourself?" Krillin asked.

Lazuli lowered her shades, revealing her beady eyes. She gave Krillin this cold and hard stare. Krillin nervously went to rubbing his bald head, internally praying he didn't put her in much a bad mood. Slowly Lazuli got up. "Krillin...honestly. Does it look like I'm in the shape to do so right now?" Lazuli softly patted her stomach. While she was wearing loose clothing, Krillin knew exactly what she was implying. If she were to remove the sweater that moment, a little bump would be able to be seen on her stomach.

Krillin just frowned. "Oh, c'mon. I know many girls that are pregnant and still working out! You're just lazy!"

The moment Krillin said that last sentence he regretted it that instant. While Lazuli was pregnant, she was still strong. And she was still by far, stronger than Krillin. Using her speed, Lazuli made it over to the short man and kicked the bald man into the water.

"Ah!" Krillin didn't even see Lazuli coming at him. All he felt was a hard foot make contact against his chest. And before he knew it, he was in the deep section of the ocean. Luckily for the midget, he knew how to swim.

Turtle was watching, not even in the least surprised. "You done goofed, Krillin." He shook his head, using his fins as he facepalmed. (face finned bdmtss...)

Just moments later, everyone was outside of Kame house, right on the beach. Roshi had rendered Krillin a towel as Turtle was far too slow and Lazuli just didn't want to at the moment, obviously upset with him.

"Truly," Roshi told Lazuli and Krillin, "I'm just about tired of you two always doing something that interrupts my me time." He then spoke to Krillin. "You...you should learn to watch your mouth, please. Keep it up and you might end up in a volcano of lava somehow."

Lazuli just scoffed. Krillin dried himself with deep shame and regret. "I'm sorry," Krillin told Lazuli. "You're not really lazy. I was just teasing. I know how much hard work it took you to get to how strong you are as of right now. I'm sorry for that." He, like any person, would say anything just to make his significant other feel better. Though, unlike most people, he also genuinely meant exactly what he spoke.

Lazuli shook her head. "You bird for brains, you said you know many pregnant girls that still do exercise." Uncrossing her arms, she got into an offensive stance. The moment Lazuli happened to get in his grill, Krillin put his hands outward, backing up a bit. "Who are these girls? Are they side ones? Are their kids yours?" Lazuli's glare was so hard and cold through her shades that Krillin could feel them piercing at him

Krillin and Roshi were both taken aback. The master and student couldn't control themselves at all. In an instant, the two bald martial artists fell over on their backs. Lazuli just folded her arms once more, shaking her head. "Idiot...!"

Turtle was in the back, a single sweat drop coming down his dry face. His shock was just as great as the two bald martial artists that were on the ground.

* * *

In an isolated location, a giant house was center in the middle of a desert. Inside only resided simply one person and one person only.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Heading over to the microwave, the man took out his instant ramen. Getting a clean pair of chopsticks, he set them inside his meal and grabbed a cup of tea. The man headed over to the living room. He found nothing better to do as all the recent chaos put him out of business. This was practically a normal day for him now.

"Let's see what's new." He changed the channel from sports to recent news.

On the T.V. appeared a man on air, speaking live. Luckily he caught him at just the right moment. "Just recently the man that goes by the name Kakarot was in the middle of his speech." The name just made him cringe that moment. "While he did finish wonderfully, he got interrupted. By the man that went by the name Tsuru-sennin."

"Oh..." a smile crept up on his face. "What did you do, huh?" He already knew just what Tsuru had interrupted everyone for.

"In an attempt to kill Kakarot, he scared countless members there." He did set down his meal, just after taking only one bite. 'Attempt?' He was fairly certain that Kakarot would have been disposed of that moment. "The moment Sir Kakarot disposed of him for good, he immediately restored hopes to hundreds of thousands of people."

"DISPOSED!?" His voice went through the roof. He ignored the many comments about Kakarot actually restoring already 16 of 43 of all the sections of Planet Earth in the span of four months. He was not only shocked upon hearing Kakarot had disposed of Tsuru, but he was angry, livid. "How in the hell...could Kakarot kill my damn brother?"

Rage slowly was beginning to overtake him. Yes, he and his brothers would butt heads at times, but dammit they were still brothers. To find out he died by none other than that bastard Kakarot enraged him like no other. He wanted Kakarot as good as dead as Tsuru. "It comes to a surprise to me that he wasn't here when the Red Ribbon Army had attacked all around," a lady on the t.v. had stated.

"Indeed. It only makes me wonder how these former humans converted into robots could be able to be taken out by someone far weaker than Kakarot himself?" the man asked. "A rare occurrence."

"Indeed, let's just be glad that it's past us now," the woman responded.

The man ordered his papers, stacking him. "Also! In other news. The moon has just recently been destroyed and come back yet again. Some man that was just cleared of his mental disease and released from a mental institute has stated that he got a taste of it when he tried to break free a while back. And it tasted like cheese?...We'll be right with you with these recent reports."

Tao shut off the t.v. "Red Ribbon Army, huh?" A thought came to his mind. "Surely there are some survivors of that failed organization. The one to make those androids wasn't involved with the many deaths..." Tao was smiling wide. "Yes, oh yes. I've got some research to do."


	27. Camping

3 more months having transpired, people still went through with their own objectives in life. Slowly, but surely, the pace was being picked back up. Some cities were rebuilt, while not as good as they were in the past, it was surely a great improvement. Everyone had the words of Kakarot and Bulma in mind from the day they gave their speech and it had a majority of them motivated still to this very point.

Back at Kakarot's home, Ox and Dedana were both in the living room, eating a simple snack as they watched t.v. together. When Dedana wasn't out doing simple things for Bulma, she was always at the house, accompanying Ox. Over time the two got along just fine, getting to know quite a bit about one another.

While the two had the majority of their attention on the t.v. that played various things on screen, some noise could be heard coming from outside. Ox looked over, watching as the door handle began to turn. He nor Dedana weren't expecting any people at the house, especially around this time.

"Who is it?" Dedana asked.

All Ox did was sense out for whoever was about to enter. Even though it was Kakarot, it was rather surprising as the man was rarely at the house. The only times he would be there were to spar with his son. "It's my dad," Ox answered.

"But didn't you guys train yesterday?" Dedana questioned.

"Hello." Kakarot came through the door. Closing it behind him he looked over to Dedana and Ox. "How is everything going?"

"We're doing great," Ox responded. The boy was still a little bit on edge. What other reason could his father be at the house for other than a good spar or a nice home cooked meal? He could only hope he'd get his answer soon before having to ask himself.

"How has everything been going on with you, Bulma, and King Furry putting everything back in place?" Dedana asked.

Kakarot rubbed his chin. "Heh." He looked over at the television. "Kind of ironic. As much as you two been watching t.v. you haven't been keeping up on the news apparently." Kakarot had a big, wide and proud smile on his face. "Just seven months into the process of rebuilding our world and we're already 65% done."

"That's pretty fast," Ox said in amazement. "You guys have been working hard."

"That's exactly what King Furry told us," Kakarot said, softly laughing. "I honestly want to do more."

"So why not do it?" Dedana asked, getting up.

Kakarot shrugged his shoulders. Taking off his dirty over shirt, the saiyan tossed it over on the hanger. While Kakarot was into business and paperwork, he also got his hands dirty with the common folk, who were the main ones doing the rebuilding. Bulma, Furry, and Kakarot were the ones supplying the money so the people would be able. And out of those three, Kakarot didn't mind putting in some physical work as well.

"They said we should have a break. We've got another four sections back in action this month. That now makes 28 sections restored. They said we should get the weekend off, hang with our families and just chill out." Kakarot sat on a stool by the counter and looked at the t.v., even though he was paying next to any attention to it.

"I have some leftover pork," Dedana told Kakarot, pointing her face over at the food that resided in the refrigerator

Kakarot nodded with a grin on his face. "Actually the best thing I've heard all day." From all the work he did on an empty stomach, he felt he needed at least something in there. Something was better than nothing after all.

Dedana giggled and went to warm up a small meal for Kakarot.

"Do you have anything else to do this weekend?" Ox asked.

Kakarot shook his head. "No, not at all."

"So what are you going to do then?" Ox asked. "An entire weekend without any type of activity is kind of bad, speaking on your behalf."

Kakarot chuckled at his son's comment. "That's true." He would get easily bored when it came to not having anything to do. All his childhood he was always immersed in some sort of activity, whether it be physical or mental. All was better rather than having to do nothing at all and waste time away.

"So what did you come to do?" Dedana asked, getting out a wine glass from the cabinet.

"Considering how they advised us to come and spend time with our families, that's what I'm doing." Kakarot looked onto his wrist, which was carrying a silver watch. "It's not even noon yet." He then looked over to Dedana and Ox. "You two feel like doing something later in a little bit?"

"Like what?" Ox asked.

"Whatever outdoors," Kakarot said. Thinking about it further, the saiyan had just the perfect idea. He snapped his fingers. "Aha!" He went on to look at the two. "We can go out camping."

"Camping?" Ox asked. "Geez..." the boy looked out of the corner of his eyes. "I don't think I ever did that before."

"You being an infant has a lot to do with that," Kakarot responded.

"Oh..." Kakarot was right. Ox didn't remember next to any type of activity when he was a kid. His father could have told him that he did whatever thing as a baby and his father would be more than likely to remember than him due to the fact he has next to no recollection of experiences when he was a toddler and anything prior to that.

"I'd like that!" Dedana said, happily agreeing with Kakarot's idea. Upon placing a plate of food and a glass of wine on Kakarot's counter she took off through the hallway. "I'm going to get ready."

Ox stood up and turned off the t.v. The kid walked over into the kitchen and went through the fridge. Grabbing out a cold drink he went to sit on the stool across from his dad. The kid looked at Kakarot. When it came to food Kakarot blocked everyone and everything else out of his mind, just focusing on when the next bite would come.

For Ox, it's been far too long since he has ever done anything with his father other than sparring. Hearing that he would be able to do something family related lifted his spirits for sure. He was smiling widely just yards away from Kakarot and said saiyan didn't notice a thing.

* * *

Much later on that same day, near midnight back at the Look-Out, Mr. Popo was just chilling as he spent his time watering some plants. "Hmhmhhmmm..." The genie was singing a tune to himself, just passing the time lightly. It's not every day something out of the usual happens or it merely wouldn't be out of the usual. Well, something surely did today. The many sprinkles of water that sprayed the plants came to a stop. Having felt a presence behind him, and a very familiar one, he stood up straight..

"What brings you here?" Mr. Popo asked, not one sense of emotion in his voice. Everything with him was just...neutral. Turning around he already knew the man that was standing right behind him. Just seeing the face simply confirmed his hunch. "Piccolo."

Piccolo was standing quite a bit away from Mr. Popo. It was fairly easy to tell Piccolo didn't want anything to do with this place, but for some reason, he was there. "Where is Kami?"

"Why?" Mr. Popo asked.

"I don't have times for any questions. Where is Kami?"

"You're the one asking the questions here," Mr. Popo replied.

Piccolo let out a deep breath. Not there for half a minute and he was already getting impatient. "He's in that stupid little kingdom of his right behind you isn't he?" Piccolo looked right behind Popo, his eyes on Kami's home.

"Perhaps," Mr. Popo replied, placing his hands behind his back. Piccolo had to hold back a scowl. Mr. Popo sensed this, albeit he just looked at Piccolo, remaining idle with an emotionless face.

A few moments of silence, just of them two looking at one another. Piccolo could sense Kami in his house. "Hm." Piccolo started to make way towards Mr. Popo. "Then I'll just have to meet him myself, won't I?"

Mr. Popo knew Piccolo's power far outclassed that of his own, but Mr. Popo wasn't going to allow Piccolo to do anything without Kami's permission. Stepping in front of Piccolo, Mr. Popo restricted the Namekian from going any further. "No. You stay here."

"Excuse me?" He stared right at Popo. "If you don't move, I will force you myself."

Still holding Piccolo back, Mr. Popo shook his head in response. "You won't be going anywhere near Kami."

Piccolo clenched his jaw, truly getting irritated by Mr. Popo's steady obstinacy. "You have four seconds..." Piccolo said, holding up his entire hand.

Mr. Popo knew what was to transpire had he not moved in four seconds exactly. The risk of death was at hand, but his mission to protect Kami was still main priority. "Go ahead," Mr. Popo replied softly.

"Three..." Piccolo said, taking one finger down. With his free hand, Piccolo was getting ready to concentrate ki in his palms. Yet Mr. Popo did not move at all, sticking to his initial actions of protecting Kami, no matter the price. 'Does this fool truly want to die?' Piccolo put down another finger. "Two..." The energy Piccolo had was now growing.

"Enough," a voice said from behind. Mr. Popo immediately got out of the way of Piccolo, knowing it was Kami. Piccolo put down his hand and canceled out the energy he was initially going to use to force Popo out of his path. Kami stared right at Piccolo, which was basically like staring into a younger version of himself. At one point, these two were one whole person. "What is it that you're here for?"

Piccolo stared back at Kami, his arms folded. "Kakarot's gotten far too strong for me to catch up to him quickly enough."

"You're still with the desires of causing harm to Kakarot and his allies?"

"No, just Kakarot," Piccolo responded. "If his friends get in my way as well trying to prevent me from ruling this earth like once before, then they can perish along with him."

Kami shook his head. "I'm sorry Piccolo. But I won't rejoice bodies with you just so you can use the power to cause more harm to this world."

Piccolo glowered at Kami for that remark. "Idiot. I want nothing to do with getting back with you." Just thinking of merging together back with Kami made Piccolo shiver, for some unknown reason. "I know there is another way I can catch up to Kakarot...and quickly."

Mr. Popo already knew exactly what Piccolo was implying. "The Room of Spirit and Time?"

Piccolo grinned. "Yes."

Kami shook his head. "You can try all you want, but you won't be able to handle it. Not at your current strength."

"And you know this...how?" Piccolo asked.

Kami closed his eyes. "Piccolo. You won't be able to handle such pressure. You and I equally know about The Room of Spirit and Time. There's no way you can endure it."

Piccolo walked passed Kami, brushing his shoulder hard against the old man's. "How about you watch me," Piccolo said, smirking. The fact that Kami was doubting Piccolo only motivated himself more to go through with it. He knew very well how hard it was to be. The Namekian balled his fists. He wasn't even sure if he was ready to enter such a world. But he truly didn't see any other way. Kakarot was so many levels ahead of himself. 'There's no looking back now...' Piccolo continued to walk his path.

Kami went onto the edge of the lookout, looking down into the actions of the people on earth. "Thank you, Mr. Popo. Such bravery in the face of death can't be commended enough."

"I know he wasn't going to kill me," Mr. Popo replied. "I just didn't want to have to go through the pain." Kami let out a silent chuckle. "But really, are you truly going to let Piccolo enter the chamber?"

Kami nodded. "I have no other choice, Mr. Popo."

"And why is that?" Mr. Popo asked. "If he's to use his new powers for evil, what then?"

"I know that those like Kakarot, Roshi, and Krillin will be there to stop him at a moment's notice. Truthfully, I hope Piccolo does gain a substantial amount of power."

"But why? I don't see any sense in it."

"You must think about it," Kami suggested. "That saiyan...Vegeta. Anytime he will come back. And if he is anything like Kakarot, he will be back stronger than ever. The next time he and Kakarot meet, the one on our side may not be so lucky." He looked at his servant. "That's when Piccolo can come into the picture."

"Ah..." Mr. Popo slowly nodded his head, finally getting the bigger picture. "I see exactly what you're saying, Kami."

"I know one thing...Piccolo is going to have a hard time in there."

And Kami was right. Piccolo was standing just right before the door where a portal between two entirely different dimensions resided. Piccolo was a bit anxious. But he knew he had to be prepared mentally if he truly had any desires of enduring this hell he was going to experience at all.

Slowly he placed his hand on the door of and opened it. A white, bright light shone all into Piccolo's face. This feeling already was intense. But once more, Piccolo calmed himself down with some controlled breathing. Once his mind was clear, he decided to go right in.

Piccolo for sure wasn't the only person who had something to prove against Kakarot, nor was he the only one holding grudges. He and the saiyan Vegeta were going through the same situation. However, unlike Piccolo, Vegeta didn't have much patience. Being embarrassed by a saiyan who was born to never amount to your power was something Vegeta still couldn't shake out of his mind.

* * *

In hopes of pushing those thoughts further away from him, Vegeta was to have a hell of a time on Planet Ruk. Little yellow midgets with pear-shaped heads, three eyes and one antenna on the top of their heads walked around their very own little city. This area being on the outskirts of the planet, unfortunately, they wouldn't get the news of their home being under attack until it was all too late.

Vegeta stood on a tall pillar that was planted over 3,000 feet in the middle of the city that it represented. The saiyan had a bunch of blood on him, as well as the smell of death. He didn't take any rests at all and attacked one area after another. Not even the top defenses on the planet could stop him.

Vegeta didn't care for the normal lives each of these creatures led. The families they had a high potential of losing, the amount of grief and despair they would experience meant absolutely nothing to him. He's been doing this just after he learned to walk as a child. Killing and destroying the lives of others who deserved or didn't deserve it was like second nature to him, as if it was something he was innately born with. Sticking his finger out, Vegeta let out a small ki attack from the tip of his index finger.

A little kid was on the streets of the city, him and other kids hitting the ball around just using one hand. "I got it!" one of the little boys hopped into the air and smacked the ball away. None of the adults or children were awair of their incoming doom. They lived a rather content life, nothing too wild or fancy, but something everyone could sit down and they, they're well off. It was too bad all of it was going to be ruined in mere seconds. This city was many miles from the others Vegeta had attacked, so nobody here in the area were aware yet of the destruction being caused on their homeworld.

The ball made its way over to one of the others, who was keeping track of the ball in the air. As the ball was to land in one specific spot, he stood there, his hand out. "I GOT IT!" Little did he notice that a ball of ki was coming from right behind. With the anticipation of being able to smack the ball away, all of the material used to make it suddenly just burned. "Wha-!" was all he would say before he too would be disintegrated.

Vegeta laughed loudly, full of joy. The entire city was reduced to complete ashes. The screams of agony and cries for help was something Vegeta would never get tired of. Even in his near 30 years of life, he still got a kick out of his victims' screams.

Just moments ago the city was lively, full of peace and joy, people thinking nothing bad would ever happen, as it was to be like any other day, a rather harmless one. And yet seconds later there was nothing left but complete debris. The only thing left standing was the pillar, which represented the city entirely.

From miles away, an elephant like noise occurred. Vegeta looked over to his left. "So this planet's warriors come to try and fight me." Vegeta sensed the energies of the reinforcements that were being sent out to him. "And that dolt Frut truly thought he'd stand a chance here. Pathetic." Vegeta flew right into that direction, going to confront them as well.

* * *

In the middle of nowhere, prior to when Piccolo entered the chamber, Dedana, Kakarot, and Ox were all setting up camp. The saiyan left out in sweatpants with a muscle shirt. Dedana had on everything camouflage, as well as her own hunting scarf. Ox came in with some shorts and a simple white t-shirt.

"Here we are." The three were surrounded by nothing but trees and sticks. Animals, of course, would remain up there natural habitats. Kakarot pulled out a capsule and clicked on it. Once tossing it over and letting it hit the ground, a camping site appeared. It came along with some readied tents and a fire already available.

"Nice." Ox was smiling at the sight. Everything was already set up for them: the tent, wood ready to be burned, whatever. It was all there an available at any time.

"This is what you earthlings call camping?" Dedana questioned. She looked at her area, scratching her head.

"Well, of course. What do you call camping on your homeworld?" Kakarot asked.

"Back home, when we want to camp, we are stripped naked by our fellow neighbors. They give us sleeping potions so we don't wake up when they put in a random scenario."

"Like what kinds?" Ox inquired.

"For one...they can put you in the nest of an animal, with her kids ready to hatch anytime soon. Sometimes they will put you next to some obviously stray animal who is starving. Or in the coldest part of the planet without any shield. Depends."

"That's some cool hunting," Kakarot commented.

"What the hell is hunting?"

"What next?" Ox asked once more. The boy was genuinely interested as Dedana would share a lot about her own people. This was something she never talked about before.

"While we are knocked out, they strip us of clothes or any type of accessories able to help us on the hunt. We are then carried to some random destination and have to find a way to adapt. We endure this for half a year if we truly want to go hunting."

"That's pretty cool," Kakarot dryly said, not really interested in Dedana's little cultural mini-story to begin with. He was more excited to do hunting the earthling style rather than hear about how someone elses world did it.

"We should do that!" Ox advised his father. "We already have the entire camping site set up for us. We got our own tents and everything. We can make this fun by putting our own little twists onto this! like what Dedana's people did!" Ox's tail was wagging from left to right.

Kakarot chuckled at Ox's ignorance. Though he couldn't blame his son, nor Dedana. They didn't even think for a second there would be a catch. "Oh, but there is a challenge." Kakarot looked at both Dedana and Ox. "We aren't prepared with any food."

Ox looked passed Kakarot to meet eyes with Dedana and vice versa. The two shrugged their shoulders and looked back at Kakarot. "But we can get any animal within just seconds, dad."

Kakarot shook his head. "True. But there is one rule when it comes to our hunting."

Ox then shook his head, knocking on his own noggin for a brief second. "Wait...are we hunting or are we camping? I'm kind of confused now."

Kakarot cracked his neck. "Thanks to my insatiable appetite, we're doing both."

"Huh?" Dedana asked, confused. "Camping is where we already have everything, but just chill right? At least that's what I read on magazines in how you do it here on earth."

"I kind of had no choice..." Kakarot said, scratching his head nervously.

"Why?" Ox felt he already knew the answer, but he bit the bait anyhow.

"As you guys were getting ready, I kind of ate all the food inside." Ox face-palmed and Dedana fell over. Honestly, Ox himself should have been the one least surprised. While still young, he got to see his father pig out, especially over Chi-Chi's food the past few years. "But a way to make this hunting fun is by using literally no ki at all. So we can actually have some fun, but also train, in a sense."

A little smile crept on Ox's face. "You're so weird, dad."

* * *

As Kakarot, Ox, and Dedana all had their fun, Dr. Gero quite wasn't. The man looked on through. He had bots spying on the boy named Ox 24/7. "So he's out having a time with his family?" Gero decided that every single move Ox was to make, he would be watching him. Already, the man had tons of evidence saved up for the kid already. If he was able to use anything for the kid to make him vulnerable, he wouldn't hesitate in doing so for sure.

KNOCK KNOCK

Gero wasn't expecting a knock, especially from where he currently was. 'Who in the world could possibly know about my hideout?' Gero pressed a button, looking through his security camera. 'Oh...' Dr. Gero studied his visitor. "It's the infamous Tao Pai Pai." A little grin crept on the man's face. "What exactly could he desire in this area, must I ask myself."

Tao Pai Pai was standing right outside the door of Gero's laboratory. The assassin had spent a good bit of his money trying to track down Gero for the past few months now. In his mind, the man thought that perhaps if he was able to somehow be converted into a literal fighting machine, then he would be able to extract revenge for his brother onto Kakarot, not to mention be able to live forever, doing the main thing he loved for a near eternity.

* * *

While every day the events of those on planet earth are known, it is barely visited the world of the dead. Not just those that are brought to their own hell, nor those that are without a doubt going to heaven. But rather those dead people that are given special treatment.

Constant running, 24/7. One would not be able to run restlessly for countless days, not at all. But this was exactly what the man known as Tien was doing. The tri-clops was running moving his legs constantly, going to try and reach his destination.

"Just run and run. It may get tiring. But eventually, you'll get there." Tien repeated this to himself nearly every single step of the way there. Out of breath, he was for sure, but he wasn't slowing down for anybody or anything. He knew very well that as of right now it was all mental. He had the physical capabilities, but a single strand of doubt and he would lead himself into giving up. This was just a test for him before he would be able to truly get into the real training.

Tien was dripping absolute sweat. His calves, legs, quads, and thighs were all heavy. They felt like pure metal to simply lift. Still, he spoke aloud to himself, saying nothing but positive things, adding fuel to his fire to keep pushing on.

Tien looked ahead. It looked as if his mind was wandering off to other places. He certainly didn't believe what he was seeing. Maybe so much running had truly driven him crazy. Shaking his head, Tien looked on once more in hope he'd be able to have his normal sight come back to him. "No..." Tien's eyes grew, his expression full of relief and surprise. "I can see the head! I see the head!" Tien felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and started to run hard, aiming right for the head on the serpent road.

No longer did anything feel as tired. Those were all the way blocked out of his mind. The only thing in his head now was the head of the road and the journey there. "Come on..." Tien's legs were moving at super speeds. "ALMOST THERE!" Tien, using all of his leg strength, jumped into the air.

Far below, howls of laughter could be heard. Below it was a small world. A rather near round blue looking man with shades was laughing his guts out. Surrounding him was Yamcha, Chaotzu, and Lapis. "Hahahahahaha!" he started to slap his knee. "That was hilarious."

Lapis shook his head. Having recently just made it to the world of King Kai himself, the only way he was to be accepted training was if he was to tell a funny joke that would make the Kai laugh, it being another test before he would be able to get through the real deal. "It really wasn't that funny."

"AHHHHHH!"

Chatozu, Lapis, and Yamcha all looked into the air. Just from above Tien came falling, and did he fall. Possibly the worst landing of his life the gravity on Kai's world being ten times that of Planet Earth's.

"Oh, what's up Tien!" Yamcha greeted in a friendly manner.

Chaotzu knew he was going to see his friend make it. But not so soon. "Tien!"

Once Tien, who was in sheer pain, rose back to his feet, he was greeted by Chaotzu with a hard hug around the neck. Even after very little of time apart, they both missed each other dearly. "Hey, Chaotzu." Tien however, fell back over on his behind, not yet used to the gravity.

"Phew..." King Kai wiped away his tears of laughter with a napkin. This man, regardless of his powers or knowledge, didn't look as if he fit the bill. He seemed somewhat out of shape with his bigger build, though that was something that many people underestimated about him. He then looked onto Tien. For some odd reason, King Kai secretly didn't want it that Tien was to be the last one to appear on the planet because he wanted to hear some more jokes so he could have a rather good time.

"Yes," Lapis said. The man took a deep breath. "How did this little guy just fly so fast with gravity like this?" Lapis was barely able to move as he had been on the planet before Chaotzu and Tien.

"H-how did you make it in before me, Chaotzu?" Tien asked.

"I didn't start off using my ki!" Chaotzu exclaimed, referring to his telekinetic abilities.

"Ah..." Tien rolled his eyes. "Well, it's good to see you." In a failed attempt to bring himself back up, Tien groaned. "W-Why is it so heavy here?"

"Ho ho ho..." King Kai grinned. "The gravitational pull here is far stronger than Earth is."

Yamcha walked around carelessly on the planet. It became apparent to everybody that the man had got used to making his way around the planet without any troubles at all since he had been there longer than most already. "Don't worry, Tien. You're not too late to the party." Yamcha himself had been training for a while on the planet, so of course, it would only have to be natural that he would adapt to the planet's environment.

"Good to know," Tien said, obviously struggling to stand up.

"So this is the last guy huh?" King Kai stared onto Tien. "Is he worthy enough?"

Chatozu looked to Lapis, who looked to Yamcha. They've all been through it. And it sucked. But at least they passed. Each of them looked onto Tien. Now it was his turn...

King Kai fixed his crooked shades. "If you want to be trained by me, King Kai! One of the most knowledgeable beings in the art of combat...you must first pass one test."

Tien grinned. Him being a warrior there was no test he would allow himself to fail. "Tch! Leave it to me to pass it with flying colors...even through this gravity." Now Tien was talking big stuff, but he was just dying inside. Fighting his natural instinct to fall and just stick to the ground was rather hard to fight against for the moment. "Hit me with it."

"Ohhh..." Yamcha covered his mouth. The scarred martial artist wrapped his arms around King Kai. "Man, you sure you can take it? I know what kind of person you are Tien and I doubt you can handle it."

"Whatever you can do, I can do ten times better with my eyes closed," Tien responded.

Lapis rolled his eyes. 'This guy has no idea.'

"Ahem." King Kai cleared his throat. "Very well, Tenshinhan. In order to be trained by me, you must say a joke that will make me laugh."

Tien's eyes shot wide. "Y-You're joking!" Out of all the things he thought that King Kai would make him do to be able to be worthy of being his trainee, he just had to say a joke. It would take him years or more just to even consider that a possibility from someone who was the North's King of the Worlds.

King Kai shook his head. "NOPE! Tell me a joke that will make me laugh and I will train you."

Tien truly couldn't tell if they were being serious. "You've got to be pulling my leg or something." Tien looked over to Lapis. Lapis just closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh and nodded his head, confirming Tien that they weren't kidding. Looking over to his best friend Chaotzu, he found him nodding excessively. Yamcha and King Kai both just had smirks on their faces.

Tien shook his head, but he decided that he would take up to the challenge anyhow. If this was the only thing to be able to get stronger, then he was going to do whatever it takes. "If it's a joke you want...it's a joke you'll get!"


	28. Slice of Life

Hours and hours have passed since Dedana, Kakarot, and Ox all decided to go out and actually hunt for food. Even though Kakarot was the culprit, eating all the food they had stored for camping, he was yet again and unsurprisingly, hungry once more. He only made it worse on himself by restricting the use of ki. No matter how hard things appeared to be turning out, Kakarot wouldn't be one to back down from a challenge and decided to go through with it. He was the one to come up with the idea of hunting with a restriction of ki anyhow. He'd have to stick to it.

The bright sun that was there earlier was now beginning to set. It was around noon when they initially arrived, so it definitely gives an idea of how long they had been out on the hunt. This meant that it would be time to go back to the camping site, and soon.

Kakarot had his palm on a major chunk of the bark of a tree. His backhand as well as his entire arm was wet. He made sure he was to be slow, as he was hunting. He poked his face out from behind the thick tree. His face was redder than usual, drenched in sweat. The animal Kakarot had his eyes on from behind was a sabretooth. All the leaves and branches surrounding him, Kakarot had to make sure that he was extra careful when moving around so he didn't snap anything and alert his target by accident.

The sabretooth was looking around his area as well. Kakarot wasn't the only one in this entire area that was looking for something to chow down on. The animal could definitely get a meal of his own by now at the current moment.

RUMBLE RUMBLE

His senses heightened immediately, the sabretooth started to run off. That grumble was so loud that he himself felt as if there was an even more dangerous animal lurking around. So being more on the safety side of things, he decided to not take his chances and fled the scene.

"Damn it..." Kakarot smacked his hand against the tree. It was all his fault that his supposed to be meal had scurried off. The saiyan's stomach had been growling for hours and it was only a matter of time before a big one came. He looked into the bright red skies from above, it getting gradually darker out. Kakarot knew sooner or later that he wouldn't even have enough energy to keep moving around for much longer. That being it was very likely he would have to retreat without any prize at all. And that displeased him greatly.

* * *

On the other side of things, Dedana was getting around well enough. Everything she had on was straight camouflage, so she fit in just perfectly. Nearly her entire face was covered by her hunting scar, only leaving her eyes and a simple part of the nose visible to the eye. Dedana had placed herself high into a tree, sitting on a thick branch strong enough to hold her weight. The woman was just waiting for something out there. She had a trap set up, so everything was just right.

Not from afar, she kept her eyes glued onto her 2 stick deadfall trap that she had made a while ago. She had planted a 2 stick deadfall trap. It didn't take long for this little thing to become noticeable by some little animal. A rabbit came along and hopped right near it. Then it stopped.

Dedana was starting to get on edge. The rabbit was just inches away from being a meal and Dedana didn't want to capture the rabbit for the fact she was hungry as her metabolism was fast, as well as having a small appetite, but for the challenge. She found this little game a bit competitive and wanted to bring back something good, perhaps even better compared to that of Kakarot and Ox.

CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP

Out of nowhere a bird comes by next to Dedana and sits on a branch just next to her thighs. "Hm?" Dedana looked at the bird, which was an Andean Condor. It was far away from its own home, exploring the world for himself as it just left the nest it grew up in. "Hey, little guy."

The bird, being aware, looked back into Dedana's bright purple eyes. "CHIRP CHIRP!" For some reason, he took a liking to the woman. There wasn't anything specific about Dedana that the Andean Condor liked, except her bright, purple eyes. It being young, it never saw such a thing before. It fascinated him.

Dedana quickly glanced over at the rabbit that was still deciding if it wanted to go up against the trap Dedana had planted or not. The animal was hungry for sure, though it wasn't sure if it'd be worth the risk. He had some experience and knew not to fall so easily for a wide open meal. That could end in itself becoming a meal. She looked back at the bird, an idea having come to mind. The woman smirk, knowing instantly what she had to do.

CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP

The bird was starting to panic frantically as Dedana happened to snatch him and he didn't even have the proper timing to react quick enough. As much as the bird fascinated her as well, she needed as much as she could to eat.

SNAP

The bird that had been chirping just a little while ago was now not. Its body just lied in the palm of Dedana's hands, its fragile neck completely broke. "Alright..." Dedana cocked the bird back behind her head. She looked at the rabbit, who leaned in just a little closer onto the trap. "Seems like curiosity doesn't just kill cats..." Using pinpoint accuracy, Dedana slung the dead bird right at the trap from afar.

The two sticks that were holding up the large rock came down. And since there was no longer any type of support holding the rock, it came down as well. The rabbit realized something was off and felt its life was in danger. The rabbit tried to flee, however, it was far too late. Had it not gotten closer out of suspicion and curiosity, then perhaps he'd be able to escape with his head intact still.

The rock crushed the rabbits head upon impact, serving Dedana an instant kill. The Andedian grinned, having accomplished her goal. "Look at that...killing two birds with one stone." The woman hopped down the tree, landing softly on her feet. "Or should I say a bird and a rabbit." A bird and a rabbit were just perfect to be able to hold Dedana over for the rest of the night and the majority of the next day as well. As she had told Ox, her people didn't have big appetites, so two of these would last her well. Just one would serve her nice for the day.

Ox himself wasn't having a difficult time at all. The kid didn't even start hunting yet. For the past few hours, he was making himself a good bit of tools he could use to be able to capture some of his own meals. Using nothing but his environment, Ox had made two things: his own ax and spear. While he could have made a trap, which was something he contemplated, he decided to put his own creative skills to the test. This was new for him, so he wanted to make the best out of it.

Ox managed to find a large boulder in which he could hide behind. Just a little patience was all he needed and he knew the right animal would come. It was a deer. Ox grabbed his ax and cocked it back. The deer looked around, hoping nothing dangerous would be nearby. "Gotcha..." Ox flung the ax right at the deer.

The deer was unaware and that was just about all the mercy he was given. Within seconds he transitioned from being upright on its hooves to laying flat on its side, an ax sticking out from the back. Ox smiled, having gotten his meal for the night. "Perfect..." as the boy was beginning to get up and go retrieve the deer, he heard a rustling sound. Sensing how it wasn't Dedana or Kakarot, he immediately ducked back behind the boulder.

Out into the scene appeared a lynx, who was also looking for its next meal. Slowly, it inched closer to the fallen deer, screening out the dead animal. Ox knew sooner or later that the lynx would figure out some other predator had killed the deer and still may very well be in the area. Not wanting to mix another treat, Ox grabbed his spear and readied it. "Here goes nothing..."

* * *

Hours in and Tien was yet to find anything hilarious to say. King Kai just stood before Tien, patiently waiting, as did the others. "C'mon!" King Kai fixed his glasses. "I know you must have something up your sleeves."

While Tien was having trouble telling King Kai a joke, everyone else was busy chasing down Bubbles as training to get used to the gravity. Yamcha waited alongside King Kai. "Come on, Tien. You must have something."

Tien's face was slightly red. He was a warrior, so he never found time to make any jokes. Yamcha saw the struggle from the triclops and sighed. He figured out that it would be days before Tien even came up with something decent. "Here...try this one." Yamcha went over to Tien and whispered into his friend's ear.

King Kai was getting a bit excited now. He was dying to just die of laughter in the next few moments.

After Yamcha had separated himself from Tien, said warrior was left confused. Out of all the jokes he thought would be needed to use, he didn't think he'd have to use such a simple one. "How is that funny?"

"Don't worry about that," Yamcha confidently reassured. "These types of jokes fit him just perfectly."

Tien didn't see how the joke Yamcha gave him would be funny, but he himself was all out of options. Tien looked back over to King Kai, who was graciously waiting for a response. "Alright. Let's do this."

King Kai had a wide smile on his face. The build-up was intense. 'Could this be the funniest joke ever?' The suspension itself was putting King Kai on the tip of his toes. He'd just have to wait and hear what Tien's got.

"Here goes..." Tien's demeanor was nothing else but serious. It was either crash or burn with this one. In his head, he recited the line over and over again so he would be able to give off the perfect delivery. His confidence now reaching its maximum point. Once Yamcha had helped his friend out, Tien grinned. "Hey, King Kai...how do I like my meat?"

"Oh..." King Kai leaned in closer. He himself had no guesses at all, so this joke had to be good. "I don't know...do tell, do tell."

Yamcha was silent. King Kai was silent. Tien held in a few more moments to say it. The loud noises coming from Lapis and Chaotzu behind were ignored and tuned out as they continued to chase bubbles the monkey. This moment would decide if Tien would get to train or not.

"I like it...TIENDERIZED!" The tri-clops yelled.

King Kai gulped. If the joke had any type of power, King Kai's glasses would just crack on impact. Instead, the Kai fell over on his back. "AHHHHH!" His eyes enlarged greatly. "Aha...aha..." King Kai slowly started to laugh, really trying to hold it in.

Yamcha grinned. "Yep...it got him."

Tien looked back to Yamcha, greatly uncertain. "Are you sure?" he worriedly asked. Tien really just wanted to get on with his training.

Yamcha nodded and motioned Tien to look over to King Kai to see with his own eyes. Tien did as signaled and looked onto the fallen Kai. As he did, King Kai had his hands on his belly and was rolling. "AHAHHAAHAHAHAAA!" King Kai laughed out loud hysterically. "AH! I...AHAHAHaHa! I g-get it! HAAHAHAh!"

Tien had a sweat drop down on his face. "You can't be serious..." Not for a second did he think that a joke so simple-so lame, would have King Kai over on his back, gasping for air as he laughed like a madman. If anything, he expected a couple of snickers and nothing more.

Yamcha just slapped Tien on his back. "As a heart attack my dude."

Tien was just left dumb-founded. Yamcha then leaned in next to Tien once more, whispering something else. Tien's face was red. "A-Are you joking, Yamcha?"

Yamcha shook his head. "Not at all..." He then hopped back from Tien and rubbed his chin. "Well, now that I think about it...yeah." Yamcha chuckled. "It is a joke after all."

Tien looked back over to King Kai, who was rolling over hysterically. "Hey, you like that?!" Tien added. "If I were you, I'd rate that joke...TIEN OUT OF TIEN!"

"BWAHAHAhAhAHAhA!" King Kai was punching the floor constantly.

King Kai called so much attention to himself that Chaotzu and Lapis stopped chasing after Bubbles. "What the hell..." Lapis mumbled under his breath.

Chaotzu looked over at how Bubbles had stopped, waving his arms all around as any monkey would. They all just watched King Kai dying of laughter. "I wish I could hear the joke," Chaotzu said in a sad tone.

Lapis shook his head. "Knowing him...it could have been anything that had got him." He looked back to Bubbles. "Let's go, monkey!"

"UUHM?" Bubbles looked over to Lapis, scratching his head. He saw Lapis coming at him as fast as he could, regardless of the heavy gravity holding him back. "AHHHHH!" Bubbles started to scurry away.

"Hey!" Chaotzu yelled. "WAIT FOR ME!" the little guy started to join in on the chase.

* * *

Vegeta was still having a bit of fun on Planet Ruk. There weren't far too many inhabitants of the world, and since the residents there were far too weak to take him on, Vegeta was finding himself having a very easy time.

Yet again another one of the major cities of the planet had been attacked and gone away with. Even the greatest defense force on the planet didn't amount up to anything against Vegeta, not at all. The most recent place he had got into contact with had burning buildings and countless corpses and detached limbs all around what used to be undamaged streets.

Out of all the innocents there, one survivor still managed to try and make an escape. His legs were completely shattered and the old man could only rely on his entire upper body to help him exit the danger zone that was just itself Vegeta. His heart was racing and the tragedy he had just witnessed and fell victimized to still wasn't all internalized into his head. The elder citizen always expected to die naturally when it was the time, surrounded by his family, but not like this.

He continued to move his arms forward, not looking back once. The black smoke was sure to help him blend in and allow him to escape- At least he thought. While he moved his arms forward, all of a sudden he wasn't making any type of progress, coming to an immediate halt. "W...what..." he knew there had to be only one reason why he was no longer capable of moving further. Slowly, he turned around behind him.

And there Vegeta was. The saiyan had his arms crossed, smiling. "Going somewhere?"

The old man looked back over to his nonfunctioning legs. Just above them was Vegeta's foot, the very thing that was prohibiting him from moving away any further. He looked into those devilish eyes that scared the living soul out of him. Just by looking at Vegeta he already knew that trying to beg for his life would be utterly futile.

"What's the matter? Aren't you going to try and avert death by pleading for mercy?"

The old man just frowned. All he had now was defeat. He did try and prolong his life. But still, in the back of his mind, subconsciously he had a feeling that it wouldn't be useful. "J...Just do what you must..." he coughed.

Vegeta growled. Seeing the old man beg would at least give him some type of satisfaction. It was a rare occurrence he came across these stubborn types in the face of death. Taking his foot off the senior's broken leg, Vegeta grabbed him by the ankle and lifted him up to where they were equally eye level. "How would you like death? Quick and painless or gradual and racking?"

"Either way...does not matter," the old man responded. "Only if I get to be with my family in the afterlife." The most important thing was all he could think about in these desperate moments. Anything else at this point was a mere pipe dream.

"Tch!" Vegeta spat in the man's face. "Suit yourself you old piece of trash." Vegeta looked over his shoulders. One of the endurable buildings were still standing, just barely, gradually being broken down by the hot raging fire produced from the intruding Saiyan himself. Vegeta, having gotten one of his diabolical ideas for punishment, figured out how he was going to end this innocent old man. "Do you know what cremation is?" The man kept his mouth sealed and only shook his head. Vegeta got a little bit of amusement out of it, now feeling he could follow through with it. "Well, as a reward for your welcoming of a sure fixed death, you get to experience it first hand!" Vegeta turned around, and with a decent bit of effort, slung the man into the air.

The alien Vegeta had sent to its death had already came to acceptance with it. He wore this blank expression on his face. As he got closer to which were the hot flames of fire, he began to sweat profusely. As he was just above it, he could feel his skin begin to peel rapidly. Yet no cries of agony came from him.

Vegeta sensed out for his energy. That same old devilish smile was there as he no longer sensed any type of life coming from him. The saiyan cracked his neck. "I can't sense much more that still reside here." Vegeta looked behind him, checking for the lower section of his body. Still, over half a year of traveling and yet his tail was to regrow back to what it was before. "Tch..." In any normal situation, when Vegeta wanted to get things over with quickly, the saiyan would just revert to using his Oozaru transformation. "Kakarot!" Vegeta growled, his fists completely clinched. "As soon as I finish my business, you are next on my list!" The saiyan shot up into the sky. "I swear it!"

* * *

Piccolo still had truly forgotten just how bad it was to be in The Room of Spirit and Time. As he was in the white space ahead of him, the Namekian was dropped right to his knees. Before entering Piccolo knew what it was. The temperature would range from 122 degrees to -40. The air pressure being a fourth of the earth's planet didn't help much either. And to make the situation harder, the gravity was ten times that of Planet Earth itself.

Piccolo was sweating excessively. He decided that he'd train with his weighted clothing on to get the most out of his training. "Kakarot..." Piccolo growled. The only man motivating him to do this was Kakarot. To have his supposed arch-rival surpass him the way he did strike a cord in Piccolo. It made him come to reality; he got far too comfortable.

Deep inside, Piccolo knew that he would have to find something to help him up. "If...If I stay like this...I will never be able to catch up to him! Never...!" Piccolo grit his teeth, genuinely struggling with pushing himself off the ground. "I...got this." Piccolo was shaking all over as he was getting in motion to stand completely erect. "I..won't give up!"

Piccolo stood right on his feet, yet he was still wobbling. He had never felt this type of pain before, not even in the face of battle. The only thing that kept pushing him was the knowledge of the benefits of being in this mystical place. He had to catch up to Kakarot. "Once I'm done here...there will be nobody to stop me." Piccolo growled. Having his mind set on his goal, Piccolo stopped moving. He stood still. "I'll have to take small steps, gradually making my way up."

Back at camp, the night had finally appeared. The moon was half full and shown brightly deep into the woods. In an open area surrounded by trees, the fire produced by Ox was lively. Dedana and Ox both had their meals on a stick, cooking.

"How was your hunting?" Ox asked Dedana, making conversation.

"Just fine," Dedana replied. "I had made some traps to catch my food. It was kind of fun. With me, patience was the thing. I set up my trap and waited for the rabbit to fall into it. When that didn't work, I used the bird and voila!"

"Yeah. It is fun when you actually have to work for it. I didn't have an exactly hard time. It took me a while to get the stuff I needed to make my ax and spear though. Then I had to make them myself."

"After that, it was all a piece of cake, huh?" Dedana asked.

Ox nodded. "Yep!"

Rustle Rustle

Dedana and Ox heard branches breaking, as well as leaves and what not. Out from behind in the dark appeared Kakarot. The saiyan was obviously not looking too well. "Hey, what's the matter?" Ox asked.

Kakarot was drained of his energy. Even if the saiyan desired the use of ki right now, he simply wouldn't be able to. His fuel was food and that was the main thing he lacked at the moment. The Saiyan looked pale in the face and fell over to his knees.

"Hey..." Ox looked over to his dad. "You need help?"

Kakarot sighed, extremely disappointed in his unfruitful efforts. "I couldn't catch anything."

Ox cocked his head to the side. "But how? It's actually simple."

"Did you set any traps or make any tools?" Dedana asked.

Kakarot shook his head. "No." The saiyan weakly stood back on his two feet. "I tried it my own way, getting my own two hands on a big animal and taking them down myself."

"You're serious?" Dedana asked. "Trying to do something like that while restricting your ki? That'll fail you almost every time."

"Maybe if you used a bit of your true power you could have gotten you a meal," Ox informed.

Kakarot nodded, already knowing that. He and Ox went over by the fire and sat down around it, sitting on a long and broad log. "What did you two happen to accumulate?"

"I got a bird and a rabbit," Dedana replied happily.

"And I have a deer and a lynx!" Ox stated proudly.

Kakarot grimaced. The saiyan looked onto the food Ox had over the fire. He completely ignored the rabbit and bird. Those two simple small animals would never be able to hold him over. But the deer and lynx would definitely help. He had an urge to grab them both and just eat them, depriving both Dedana and Ox of their own meals. He scoffed, realizing that he shouldn't do anything of the like. It was his own fault he didn't happen to catch anything. "That's good, son."

Ox took off the deer on the stick and took a big bite. "Want some?" Ox asked.

Kakarot shook his head. "No, son. Go ahead in your tent with your food."

Ox didn't have a problem with helping his father out at all. But the fact he got to have an entire deer and lynx to himself nearly made him ecstatic as he carried himself over inside his very own tent. Ox zipped it up and enjoyed the rest of night with his food and book inside.

Kakarot and Dedana both sat by the fire. The saiyan at least enjoyed the heat that the fire gave off. Dedana grabbed her rabbit on the stick. "Here." Dedana offered Kakarot.

Kakarot glanced at the animal, but then looked back ahead. "No, thanks." It took a lot of willpower to deny such an offer, but he felt the need to anyhow.

"You might die of starvation if you don't eat," Dedana told Kakarot.

Kakarot chuckled weakly. "Oh, I know."

"Then what's the point of refusing my offer? I'm here to make sure you're pleased, not dying of hunger."

Kakarot laughed a bit more. "I can't take it if it's not from my own work."

"Seriously?" Dedana questioned.

Kakarot nodded. "Indeed."

"Honestly..." Dedana observed the rabbit. "Just eating this might make me full. I don't want it to put it to waste..."

Kakarot's eyes slowly rolled over on the side of him. Sure, he managed to reject the offer a first time, but for her to imply she wasn't going to eat it, he truly didn't want it to go to waste. "Well...if you put it like that." The Saiyan grinned.

"Hm?" Her hand which was holding the stick that the rabbit was on had just been jacked and she didn't even notice it until it was too late. She looked at her hand. "Hey!"

Kakarot chuckled. "Thanks." The Saiyan didn't even decide to at least enjoy his food. Opening his mouth wide, Kakarot stuck the stick inside. Once the rabbit's entire body was inside his mouth, Kakarot's mouth sealed right shut. Just a few bites and it was over.

"Well geez..." Dedana mumbled. "Do you want the bird, too?"

Kakarot shook his head. "I'll let Ketosis run its course for the rest of the night until morning."

"If you say so." Dedana took a bite of her food. "There is one thing about you I don't understand..."

Kakarot's interest was caught, so he looked at her. "And that is...?"

"Why is it that one moment you can be one of the most urbane people on the planet. But then five seconds later you get all obnoxious like."

Kakarot sighed. "I went to the doctors not too long ago." He shook his head. "Such a shame really."

"What did they tell you?" Dedana asked.

"I have borderline personality disorder."

"You're joking..." Dedana took another bite of her meal. Kakarot looked at her, his facial expression showing he wasn't. The two remained silent for a moment. "Ohh...sorry to hear that. Those types of things happen, you know...?" Before Dedana could go on and on, talking as she normally does, she heard a noise coming from Kakarot.

Kakarot could be seen with his face looking away from her. His shoulders, for some odd reason, were bouncing up and down.

Dedana frowned. At first, she didn't get it, but it didn't take her long to get the hint. "You were bullshitting me!" She exclaimed.

Kakarot turned around, trying so hard not to laugh out loud. "R-right..." Kakarot continued to chuckle. "They also told me...that I'm...hehe...a compulsive liar."

Dedana shook her head, definitely not falling for it this time. "You're weird."

Kakarot nudged her shoulder. "You, too."

Dedana smiled, just shaking her head. As much as she was enjoying this little moment her and Kakarot were sharing, Dedana was getting rather tired. "I'm going to go to sleep." The woman got up, finishing her meal and went off to her tent.

Kakarot just stayed by the fire. He had made great progress the past few months. 'Everything will be back to normal...eventually.' Once his current mission for restoring earth came to fruition, he had to figure out what next.

* * *

"HIRA!" In just the matter of hours, Piccolo was moving around as he got used to the conditions of the Room of Spirit and Time. It was now freezing cold and the air felt even thinner, albeit regardless the one thing pushing him was Kakarot.

The Namkeian was flying all around, fighting countless imaginary enemies, all whom coincidentally had the same face as Kakarot himself. Piccolo hopped into the air, throwing a myriad of punches and kicks all over. Rocketing higher into the air, Piccolo started to come back down, flipping constantly.

Upon landing softly onto his two feet, he took a deep breath. He trained for hours at a time. The only thing he did for rest was meditate to get back some of his energy and nothing more. Piccolo grinned. He could feel his power continuing to rise by the second. 'It's only a matter of time...'


	29. Slice of Life (2)

Inside the well-built abode of Kakarot, it was empty. Dedana, Ox, and Kakarot all left the house vacant, as it was in the very middle of nowhere. They all went camping to pass the time as Kakarot didn't have much else to do. At first, seeing it as something fun, he was quickly growing tired of it.

Though time went on and Kakarot simply just could not deal anymore.

BOOM!

The very front door of the house was busted through, the hinges being broken. There was Kakarot, who looked like a depraved man on the brink of death. "I can't take it anymore..." The man walked into the house.

Behind him, Dedana and Ox were chasing after him. "DAD!" Ox yelled. "Chill out...!"

Dedana sighed. "Why is he like this?"

Ox had no idea, shaking his head. "I just don't want him to blow up the house."

It was bright in the morning, the sun shining brightly. They were hoping to wake up and carry on with hunting for their breakfast. What they had woke up to was a complete stressed out Kakarot, who just happened to blow up the entire site and rush off home. Neither he or Dedana had any idea why he was acting like a rambunctious child.

Ox and Dedana quickly landed just outside the house. Ox was a bit confused. Why would his father kick the door down when he had the keys on him? Practically every decision his father was making lacked all rationale.

"No time to waste!" Dedana yelled. "Let's go!" She ran into the house, having Ox follow behind.

The two slid right into the middle of the livingroom. Each of them looked around for Kakarot. They didn't have to look long though. Just one turn of the head and both of them could see the Saiyan in the kitchen, raiding through the refrigerator. They couldn't see Kakarot entirely as the door of the refrigerator was covering him.

"Dad!" Ox yelled.

"Hm?" Kakarot removed his face from the fridge, his mouth full of random food and various condiments.

Ox just closed his eyes, sighing. "I can't believe this..." He didn't even need an explanation, seeing why Kakarot was acting so weird.

Dedana, seeing why Kakarot was acting so rowdy, chuckled. "I didn't know saiyans would go so crazy over food! Hahaha!"

Having finally got some of what he wanted, Kakarot realized what he had done. For just a moment, he had blacked out. He gulped down his mouth filled with food, all of the stuff just flushing down his stomach with a total mixture of everything. "Hm?" Kakarot looked around. "How'd we get back all of a sudden?" His eyes narrowed. "Did you two do something to me?"

Both Dedana and Ox were dumbfounded. Just moments later Kakarot had struck the both of them and told them to get out of the way before he took off into the sky. And he had the audacity to ask them if they did anything to him.

Dedana just eventually laughed it off and walked over to Kakarot. "Silly." She politely moved Kakarot out of the way and bent over, looking through the fridge. "Wow...you got up a good bit!"

"Is there still some left for you to cook?" Ox asked.

Dedana stood up and checked the freezer. Upon looking through it, she looked back to the boy and gave him a wink of confirmation. "We got a bunch of meats in here."

Kakarot smiled. "That's good to hear."

"You two chill out for a bit," Dedana told them both. "I'm going to make a big feast. There will plenty for you to chow down on."

Kakarot looked over at his son, who didn't give any signs of objection. He knew that Ox liked to eat, too. But he was well aware he was nothing like himself when it came to gluttony. Ox would only eat like him when he was really hungry. "That's what I like to hear."

Ox turned around and started to make way upstairs. "I'm going to finish off that book I was reading." The boy was quickly moving his way up. "I only have to finish Chapter 29 and I'm done!"

"Halt!" Kakarot raised his voice.

"Eh?" Ox instantly froze before he could get to that last step. Coming back down he looked over to Kakarot, who was making way towards the door. "Yeah?"

Kakarot was making way to the front door he had broken. "Why don't we spar for a little bit, son?"

"Oh!" Ox's tail began to wag. That certainly beats reading at the moment. He hopped from near the bottom of the stairs, landing outside the very last one. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Kakarot grinned. Not only was it just to pass the time until the food was finished, but he needed something, particularly from his son.

It was finally done. Just a few short days of a murderous spree, Vegeta managed to do away with an entire population on a now barren wasteland of a planet. The Saiyan was traveling safe and sound in his round space pod. While not sleeping, he had his eyes closed, meditating on things that constantly ran his mind.

'The moment I get back and report to Freeza...I'm going right for Planet Earth.' While not exponential, Vegeta felt a bit of an increase in his own power. However he was going to do it, he was not going to hold back against Kakarot. His confidence, not being as big as it was his first time headed to earth, was still high.

Just outside, Ox and Kakarot were casually going back and forth with one another. In a really, all-out battle, Kakarot was able to crush his son. But it was a simple spar, more like a light jog for Kakarot. On the other hand, Ox was giving it his all.

The two had just recently split back, having got started with their sparring match. Kakarot nodded, signaling Ox to come at him. Ox was punching as quickly and as hard as he possibly could, although to no avail against his father's far more advanced reflexes. "I'm itching to know something..." Kakarot spoke, continuing to smack away Ox's little fists.

Ox hopped back from Kakarot a few inches. "What is it?" he asked, soon resuming his attack by hopping into the air, mere inches above Kakarot's face.

Even as Kakarot dodged all of Ox's bicycle kicks, he was still finding ways to make conversation. "I need to know about the Red Ribbon Army. Is there anyone you may specifically know that may still be alive?"

Ox hopped back down. "No." He then stopped fighting. "I have no idea, honestly. I think me and Piccolo killed the rest of them all."

Kakarot himself wasn't even too sure. He remembered the conversation he had with Kami a while back many months ago. It would seem as if it was the only information he'd have on the Red Ribbon Army. And this also meant Kakarot didn't have to worry about any type of vengeance. If all of them were gone, he'd simply be wasting his time looking for any surviving members that took part in his wife's death. "Don't worry about it then." Kakarot decided to leave the conversation right there. Seeing his son with many openings, Kakarot rendered Ox a hard one to the stomach.

"WOGH!" Ox fell right over on his knees, clutching his stomach with all his might. "D-Dad...what the hell...!" The kid was groaning in pain.

"Don't let your guard down so easily..." Kakarot advised.

Ox had a little flush of anger rise. Did his father not realize how much stronger he was? Had there been any more pressure, then an organ could have possibly just popped. While he was down and acting as if he was just taking a breather, he was observing his father 'Darn...' he looked down.

Kakarot laughed at his son. "You were looking for an opening." Said man backed away from Ox. "At least you've retained some sense of fighting."

Ox got back on his two feet, still holding his stomach, which was burning. "Alright, dad!" This time he made sure to stay on guard, not wanting to make the same mistake again. "Let's go."

Kakarot nodded and waited for his son to attack.

* * *

On King Kai's world, everyone found themselves making hard, but substantial progress. Lapis and Chaotzu both managed to catch the monkey already. They sat down, sweating bullets on the sidelines. Yamcha was to himself, sparring alone.

"Come on!" The scarred fighter insisted. "I've been dying to fight with somebody!" He looked at Lapis and Chaotzu. "One of you must be itching to finally fight, huh? I got a bunch of new skills up my sleeve I just can't wait to show you guys!"

No matter how bad Yamchha wanted to get them to fight, none of them wanted to. Lapis and Chaotzu were with a glass of water in hand. The two were more worried about not having their dripping sweat mixed up in the glasses than going on to train with Yamcha.

"Look," Lapis said. "We'll do it some other time. We're just too tired right now."

Yamcha frowned. He had to think back on when it was his first time being by King Kai's world as well. When he was done chasing Bubbles, he was very drained. Looking at it from his friend's point of view he decided to back off. "Alright, guys. Whenever you feel like you wanna be strong like me, hit me up." Yamcha turned around and went on to train by himself.

Lapis went to drink his water. Once he flushed down a giant gulp, he let out a refreshing sigh immediately after. "The first thing I'll do when I fight him is stab him through the chest..."

Chaotzu didn't really pay any mind to Yamcha nor Lapis' comment. He was watching as Tien was chasing down Bubbles for training. And it wasn't easy. On the outside looking in, Tien looked like a complete fool failing multiple times. "Go on Tien!" Chaotzu encouraged his friend.

Tien looked ahead at the monkey, who continued to mock him by making various silly sounds and movements. Even though he wasn't going at it for a very long time, he was just getting drained far too quickly. 'If it wasn't for this gravity, I would have gotten him by now!' Tien looked over to Chaotzu, who was still cheered him on. "Thanks, buddy!" He looked back to the monkey. A bit of time had passed and Bubbles noticed that Tien wasn't trying to chase him down. So now the chubby monkey stood there, scratching its head and wondering why he wasn't being chased. "If I don't get him down, then I won't be able to train with Chaotzu," Tien smirked. "Let's go, little monkey!"

"Oh hoh aaaaa!" Bubbles rubbed his head quickly before turning around and running as fast as his fat legs could carry him. While a short and heavy set monkey, he sure could run.

King Kai was busy driving his car around on the one and only path that was on his planet, which would take him at the very north and south of his planet. And that was it. Having felt as if he done enough laps, King Kai parked stepped out of his car. Once he exited the car he took a look around to see what his most recent pupils were up to at the current moment. 'So he's still without a sparring partner...' King Kai, having observed Yamcha, then looked over to Chaotzu and Lapis, who were looking over to Tien. Directing his own eyes to where the two were having theirs, King Kai could see Tien doing horribly at trying to catch Bubbles.

King Kai walked over to Chaotzu and Lapis. "So he's still not done yet, huh?"

Chaotzu shook his head. "No, but he's going to get it."

King Kai nodded. "The sooner the better. You will all progress much faster if you happened to train with one another."

"I'll wait it out a couple of hours before I go ahead and train with Yamcha. I need a break."

"Did bringing up that joke bring too much out of you?" King Kai teased.

"Yes," Lapis said dryly, taking another sip of his glass of water.

King Kai just frowned. His attempt at baiting Lapis had failed-miserably. "Yeah, I'll be inside." He wiped his glasses as he went in. "Let me know when he's done."

And so Chaotzu and Lapis resumed to watching Tien struggle dearly.

The time passed and it was to soon revert to night time. The sun was setting down on the beach and the moon was getting ready to show off its glory. Inside Kame House, both Krillin and Lazuli casually sat on the couch closer to one another, watching television.

* * *

"It's a boy!" a voice through the t.v. called.

The sounds of a new born's cries could be heard. "Awww..." Lazuli smiled at the baby it showed. "Look how cute."

"Ahuh..." Krillin was getting a bit weirded out by his girlfriend's attitude. For one, he never before saw her blush once and here she was, gasping at babies on television. But that wasn't even the worst part. It was the fact that her mood would change in just a split second, most definitely due to her pregnancy.

Lazuli then looked over to Krillin, rubbing her chin. "What should we name the baby?"

Krillin glanced at Lazuli, then back at the t.v. It was at this very moment that Krillin happened to come to the realization that he had never really thought of names the entire time Lazuli had been bearing their child. Krillin then looked back over to her. "Depends...what if it's a boy or a girl?"

Lazuli then thought about it. For some reason she always considered herself to be having a girl. Raising an eyebrow, she then looked over at Krillin. "What do you want if it's a boy?"

Krillin, figuring that the baby would come soon, decided to put some thought into it now. He, in particular, didn't know any specific type of name, but he figured why not try some that he had heard in the past. "Okay!" Krillin formed a smile, having come up with the perfect name. "Castana..."

Lazuli closed her eyes. In her head, she repeated the words over and over. 'Castana...castana.' She then looked over at Krillin. With her normal expression, her voice suddenly just rose. "No!"

Krillin jumped at her reaction. The bald monk was nearly on the other side of the couch away from Lazuli. "W-why not?"

Lazuli calmed down, having seen that Krillin was somewhat petrified at her sudden reaction. In calming herself, Lazuli was non-verbally telling Krillin that she was at peace and wouldn't jump at him. "Well...it sounds feminine..."

Krillin then thought about it for a while. "Y-yeah...I think you're right, Lazuli. Let me think of another one." This time, Krillin put more thought into it than before coming up with another name. "Hm." He glanced at Lazuli. "What do you think of Castan?"

Lazuli just remained silent. She stood at Krillin, her face lacking emotion. Krillin was assuming that she was thinking of ways to physically hurt him without killing him. Little did he know that Lazuli was just thinking to herself. "Well..." Lazuli started. "It sounds exactly like the last one before, but a little manlier."

"Hm..." Krillin bit his lip. He then raised up his hands. "I can't think of nothin' more! I'm stumped." Krillin sighed. "What would you name a girl?"

While Krillin was busy thinking of some names himself, Lazuli had got more than enough time to figure out some for her own. "What about Sapphire?" She looked at Krillin with wide eyes and slightly reddened cheeks, hoping that Krillin would like the name.

Krillin didn't consider it quite well. "Eh..." He moved his hand from side to side, showing that it was kind of iffy.

"Well, I only have two. So...what do you think about Diamond?"

"Little too cliche if you ask me," Krillin responded truthfully.

Lazuli crossed her arms. "Since you're the name expert, why don't you give me some boy names, huh?"

Krillin then went to think about it, too. "What do you think about Marron?"

Lazuli bounced her head to the idea a couple of times. "Yeah. It sounds cool."

"And you for a boy?" Krillin inquired.

Lazuli shrugged her shoulders. "Spinel?"

Out of all the names Lazuli could come up with, she came up with that. From hearing it at first, it didn't really please his ears. Krillin didn't want to discourage her though, so he just smiled. "Sounds good to me!"

Lazuli smiled at the fact that Krillin accepted the name for what it was. She wrapped her arms around him and looked back to the movie, finally having decided on names. They both had no idea what was going on because they missed quite a bit of it, but neither really cared. The two watched on for the rest of the night until they were laid out on the couch.

High into the near heavens of the very Planet Earth, Kami had stayed out on the Lookout. Mr. Popo, of course, kept him company as he always did. But for the near past 24 hours, neither haven't shared many words together. With the very knowledge that Piccolo was just mere inches away from them in another dimension had them both on edge.

Kami, had his eyes closed while looking down at the end of the lookout. The entire time he was meditating and thinking to himself, in his very own thoughts. But, having felt something sharp and big, Kami's eyes shot dead open.

"A-ah..." Kami turned around, there being Mr. Popo. The black genie was in awe, staring at Piccolo before him. It had been so long since anybody had used it that even he had forgotten just how much it was capable of enhancing one's strength. Piccolo didn't even feel that it could be Piccolo.

Piccolo grinned. The Namekian's attire was completely ripped and ragged. While it looked like that he had to undergo hell inside the Room of Spirit and Time, Piccolo was just all grins. He himself knew that they were cognizant of his substantial increase in power and he took great pride in it.

"Piccolo..." The old Namekian looked at his counterpart. Kami was trying his best to keep composure. He truly had no idea that Piccolo would be able to enhance his strength so much in just one year. But then again, it wasn't the same gravity. Regardless, Kami was still blatantly nervous. If Piccolo really were to try and do something with his power against Kakarot, then they'd have to look out. A few beads of sweat softly went through the wrinkles of his face until they fell to the surface of the lookout.

Mr. Popo just backed up, not wanting to get in Piccolo's way even. "Yes?"

"You don't have to use your power for destruction. I can sense it, you're not just as evil as your father. You've yet to measure up to any truly horrible act that he himself has committed. If you'd stop your ways now, then there wouldn't be such mess and you'd have a true chance at redeeming yourself."

"Hahahaaha!" Piccolo laughed in Kami's face. "You could have told me this years ago! Hell, from the very moment I was born you were more than capable of giving off the same warning!" Piccolo's laughter died down, though he was still smiling evilly from ear to ear. "You are not just terrified of how much stronger I am. You didn't expect such a jump, did you, Kami?" Piccolo continued to laugh. Through Piccolo's obnoxious laughter, both Kami and Mr. Popo were left speechless. "My sadistic nature combined with my increase in power is more than enough to take over this planet right now!" Looking onto Kami, Piccolo calmed down a bit. "...and more than enough to have you worried to near death."

Kami hissed at Piccolo. And that was all he could do, being fully aware of Piccolo's capabilities. Even though it wouldn't be in either of their best interests, Piccolo could easily do away with him on the spot if he wished to. "What about Ox?" Kami asked.

Piccolo snorted. He recalled that short time of training with the hybrid. "Kakarot's child?" He crossed his arms. "I have no qualms about murdering the brat. He makes top 5 on my list of people to kill anyhow.

Kami just shook his head. "You musn't..."

"Don't fret too much, old man!" Piccolo interjected before Kami could go on and on about morals. "I'm not going to kill him now while he's in his sleep. For one, I'm going to have to get accustomed to this new power more and control it correctly. Once it's done, then they're all dead." Piccolo was loving the uneasy expressions on both their faces. "Heh. Fools. Shouldn't have let me obtain such power." With nothing else shared, Piccolo took off to the skies.

As he watched Piccolo leave, and the power he was taking with him, Kami was now starting to regret letting Piccolo enter the chamber. Perhaps it wasn't the best choice after all.

"Why, Kami-Sama? I sincerely mean no disrespect, but why allow him to obtain such power?"

Kami grit his teeth. "I..." Kami closed his eyes. There was no way he wasn't going to hold himself accountable for this. He could have somehow stopped Piccolo some way, but didn't. Instead, he was to tell the truth, forbidding himself of any excuses. "I genuinely thought that with such time to himself in another dimension that Piccolo would come to the realization that carrying out his father's goals is completely pointless. That he would stop and go off to his own path. For that reason, I let him in. I knew he wasn't going to come out ready to help us out with anything, but that he'd just stop chasing such treacherous decisions."

Mr. Popo took a deep breath, seeing things from Kami's point of view. "I understand completely."

"It's a stupid thing, I know..." Kami sighed.

"The best thing we can do now is hope that Kakarot and the others come together and seize Piccolo from doing anything at all. They've all been the same people we've had our hopes in and they've yet to fail us."

Kami nodded, seeing Popo's point. "You're right." Kami looked at the clouds below. "What's happened has happened. We can now surely only hope for the best out of this, no matter how bad it looks..."

Piccolo was breezing through the air like he never was before. With such power also came a great bit of speed. "I'm loving this!" Piccolo then came to a complete stop. Down below he had his eyes on a house, a rather large one." Inside he could sense a familiar ki: Kakarot. "Hmp. I could blast his home up and kill him right now if I wanted to..." Thinking of Kakarot's house blowing up to bits and the flesh of the people in it just evaporating caused Piccolo to smile. "But I won't. I'll kill him in battle and I'll show him who's more powerful...once and for all."

Piccolo then lowered his ki. 'I have to make sure he doesn't sense me...' Piccolo, at a much slower pace, began to fly pass Kakarot's home below.

It was late and everyone inside was sleeping. Kakarot was in his own room, sleep neatly in his soft covers. He lied on his back, face up and soundly asleep. This was the best sleep he had been getting for a while. Too bad he had to be interrupted.

One of his eyes opened immediately. The Saiyan, having sensed something big in his sleep, just felt like he had to wake up and did so. 'What was that...?' Kakarot, half asleep, tried to focus on sensing out the power he had did just moments earlier. But yet, he the very thing that had woke him up was long gone. And he sure as hell did not have the desire to try and sense out for this faint energy.

'Ass...' Kakarot cursed. 'Whatever it was, it just ruined my fantasy land full of wine, feasts, and strong, wild animals.' The Saiyan closed his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment. Whatever the dream was, he was surely never going to get it back no matter how much he tried

And so now, Kakarot had two enemies just waiting to strike him at any time. He knew they were urging to fight him, but Kakarot didn't think it would ever be sooner than what he thought it was to be.

* * *

 _Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though it came kind of late. And next chapter is when things start to get real. So stay tuned!_


	30. Calm Before the Storm

I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for the review K47 and a guy1013

* * *

A few more months pass and it was time, finally time to wish everyone back. Everyone was back on the look-out. Well, all except Krillin and Lazuli who were each a bit slow to show up.

"Here we are..." Mr. Popo passed by everyone surrounding him. He set the last Dragon Ball on the surface on the lookout with the other six, now having all of them all closely congregated into one single area.

Kakarot, accompanied by a lot of people, started to look around. "Where's Kami?" From the moment he had arrived, which wasn't too long ago, he hadn't seen the old green man since.

"I sure haven't seen him," Oolong spoke out.

Hearing them discuss the obscure whereabouts of where Kami could possibly be, Mr. Popo looked back to the group. "He's making a pick up right now. He'll be with us shortly."

"In time to see us grant the wish?" Bulma asked.

Mr. Popo just looked back at the Dragon Balls, not answering Bulma's question. Said female simply crossed her arms and let out a silent puff. The Dragon Balls, being so close together, let out a major glow.

Kakarot, Ox, Oolong, Puar, and Bulma all looked at the Dragon Balls, waiting patiently for Mr. Popo to give off the magic words. The black genie opened his mouth, getting ready to call the Dragon forth. "Sh-"

"Yohoo!!" A voice called from about. Everyone looked to the side, all had heard the familiar voice.

Out from below the lookout, Krillin and Lazuli popped up. They were both smiling cheerily, excited about today's event. "I see we made it in time!" Krillin said, touching down on the lookout.

Lazuli stood right aside Krillin. Both were happy to be there, genuinely. Both were in high spirits and looking forward to seeing their friends again. Everyone, however, was giving the two weird looks.

"What's up?" Krillin asked.

Ox stepped forward. He, unlike the others, wasn't hesitant in nearing Krillin and Lazuli to get a good look at the little people they had in their arms. "Why are you guys carrying babies?"

Krillin looked over to Roshi in a look of disappointment. "Seriously? You didn't tell them?"

Roshi's shoulders just bounced up with mirth. "Hehe, I forgot. Sorry..." He rubbed his bald head.

Lazuli just shook her head. "So it takes over 300 years for you to finally start getting symptoms of senility, huh?"

Everyone chuckled at the blonde's comment. "They're your kids," Kakarot pointed out. "Aren't they?"

"Yeah..." Both Krillin and Lazuli were holding two kids, each one of a different gender. "They're just a few months old."

Bulma walked over, side by side of Ox. "They're sooooo cute!" Bulma let out a wide smile for the baby that Krillin was holding.

Mr. Popo just watched from afar. "What are their names?"

Krillin looked over at the boy he was holding, who had a patch of black hair on his head. Unlike his father, he had a nose with blue eyes. "This is Castan." He then looked over at the girl he had in his arms. She had blonde hair and no nose. "And this...is Marron."

"Here..." Lazuli started with the girl she had in her arms. "This is Spinel." Over the months that had passed by, Krillin had gotten used to that weird name. Everyone else wasn't all too sure what to make of it. Seeing their reactions made Krillin's eyes go wide for a moment. Lazuli, however, didn't even notice the iffy expressions on her face and continued to smile.

Spinel had blonde hair and no nose with simple black eyes. "And this is Sapphire," she said, pointing over to the girl. Like Castan, Sapphire had black hair and a nose with blue eyes. It was like one would have something of the mother, but the other of their father. It just looked sort of odd.

"I've never seen quadruplets before..." Ox said under his breath, amazed.

"Huh." Kakarot rubbed his head. "I didn't know that type of thing existed." Slowly, all eyes started to fall back on him. This smart of a man and he didn't know that quadruplets were a thing. "What?" Kakarot asked innocently.

Dedana, who was on side of Kakarot, whispered in the Saiyan's ear. "I didn't know that look-alikes could be born either."

Kakarot just closed his eyes. The way everyone looked at him earlier was the exact manner he was glaring at Dedana. The female Andedian just decided to keep her mouth shut, realizing what she had said was somewhat silly.

"Hehe," Mr. Popo chuckled. "I congratulate you on the kids." He then looked back at the Dragon Balls. "But with all due respect, Kami-Sama is waiting for us. I don't want to keep him too long."

Everyone nodded. "Yeah!" Ox yelled. The boy was itching to see his mother again.

"Shenron..." Mr. Popo had his hands raised. "ARISE!!!"

The sudden glow of each of the seven Dragon Balls had everyone's undivided attention. For Kakarot, it had been over a decade since he had last seen the dragon. As the skies darkened, the memories started to come to him.

* * *

"Booyah!!"

Three cards were thrown on a table, surrounded by a stack of many others. "Ahhh!" King Kai and everyone else threw their cards down.

"And I win again," Tien said with a cheeky grin.

Bubbles, Chaotzu, and Lapis were the only ones spectating.

"Tch!" Yamcha spat. "I don't believe it. That's the fifth game in a row you've won, Tien!!"

"Honestly," Lapis started. "if I were you, I'd be more worried about the little guy not playing other than Tien...who has conveniently won five games in a row."

"Hm..." Everyone instantly glared at Chaotzu, all except Tien, who just kept his eyes on the cards lying on the table.

"Hehehe..." Chaotzu was laughing, his anxiety levels shooting through the roof. He didn't want to admit that he had been helping Tien throughout by using his telekinetic powers. "Tien and I played many times...a-and he always beat me!"

"Yeah, sure!" King Kai shook his head.

"Hm?" Bubbles, having noticed something, started to make noise. "OOHOHHHAHAHAHOHO!!" He started to jump around on his big legs.

"What's all that about?" Yamcha asked.

King Kai looked over to Bubbles, who was pointing at everyone around the room. "Hm? What's the matter Bubbles?" Still, Bubbles was pointing to everyone else in the room. Going ahead to see what the fuss was all about, King Kai looked at everyone. Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha, and Lapis. Out of them all, he could tell that they all had one thing in common.

"What's wrong with him?" Yamcha asked, shuffling the cards.

King Kai grinned. "So it's finally time, eh?"

Nobody was catching on to what King Kai was implying. "Time for what?" Tien questioned.

"They've finally wished you all back," King Kai told everyone. "Look above you." Doing as told, the four trainees of King Kai looked up. "The halos that you guys had coming into this world are no longer here. From what I know now, you're all free to go."

Yamcha jumped up. "REALLY!!!!?" The scarred fighter asked.

King Kai nodded. "Yes."

"Oh my god!" Yamcha ran right outside of King Kai's home. After being dead for so long, Yamcha was just waiting to set foot back home. He didn't waste any time and went on to make his departure.

"So I guess this means goodbye." Tien stood up from his chair.

"Nah!" King Kai waved his hand. "I'll see you guys later."

Tien's brow furrowed. "Uh...I don't think that'll be a good thing..."

King Kai covered his mouth, trying to silence his laughter. "Hehehe...that was a good one, huh?"

Lapis chuckled. "See you later, old man." Lapis didn't want to be there any longer. He knew he missed out a lot on earth, especially when it came to his sister. From time to time he'd watch over her. And ever since his nieces and nephews have been born, he's been dying to see them. He was right behind Yamcha.

"I really appreciate you training us," Tien told King Kai. The three-eyed warrior clenched his fist. "After training by your side for so long, the next time Kakarot and I fight, he won't stand a chance!" Thinking of all the power he had accumulated for himself for the past few months he had been with King Kai, Tien felt like an entirely different warrior. He couldn't wait to test out his strength out in a real battle.

King Kai nodded. "You're welcome."

Tien dashed out the house. "Let's go, Chaotzu!!" He hopped into the air, making his way back to serpent road.

King Kai sighed. Bubbles was looking outside from inside the house. "I can't believe it..." Bubbles, having heard King Kai speak, turned around to face the man. "Just months ago we were all making jokes. I teach them all some cool techniques. Everything was fun." King Kai smiled, having enjoyed the company his four trainees had brought him. "And now they're gone. Just like that."

"OOHHH!!" Bubbles smacked his chest.

King Kai nodded. "Yeah, I know. They'll be back."

Yamcha was cruising above serpent road. "Hah!" Yamcha could already feel the results of his training thanks to King Kai. "It took me days to get to King Kai's planet the first time I came here!" Yamcha had a wide smirk on his face. "If I keep it up at this pace, I should take around 5 minutes or so. Heh."

"We're not so far behind!!" Tien shouted.

Yamcha turned his entire body around, flying backward now. "Oh, Tien!" He waved at them. "I was wondering when you'd all catch up!!"

Having slowed down a bit, Yamcha opened up the opportunity for the others to come by and catch up. Lapis was the one flying at the highest altitude, keeping his distance from the others still. He flew with his arms crossed, just focused on getting back to earth.

"If I keep going at your pace, it'll take me longer to get there."

Tien shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We've waited months to get back. What're a few more minutes?"

"Ain't that the truth," Lapis said from above. He looked over the road, all the clouds surrounding them. "To be quite honest, I'm going to miss this view. So I can stand flying here a bit more." The atmosphere there was cool and tranquil. The nice cool breeze Lapis could feel passing his skin was also a nice touch.

"Alright..." Yamcha rolled his eyes. "If you wanna keep everyone waiting so long..."

"Then they can wait," Chaotzu told Yamcha.

"Heh, exactly." Tien chuckled.

'Hm, whatever, man...' Yamcha just shut himself up and continued his flight in silence.

* * *

"Hm." Kami was by Lord Enma's desk. The Namekian was watching as many spirits came by to be judged by the gigantic lord. King Enma gave a few glances over to Kami, who simply remained quiet. "How surprising..." Lord Enma commented.

"What's that?" Kami asked, looking up at the big man working.

"Here you've been waiting for 30 minutes and you've yet to speak aloud once." He stamped on some papers, sending a spirit to hell. "That's quite a feat...well, for you."

"ugh..." Kami sheepishly pressed his hands against his face. "Lord Enma...would it be okay if I ask you something?"

"If it doesn't have anything to do with heaven or hell and death. I'm tired of talking about that nonsense."

Kami gave a soft chuckle. "Well, I would like to know..." Kami started. "How would you feel if you lived your entire life not knowing where you came from. And you found out just know?"

Lord Enma continued to judge the people, even while he was thinking. But as he read over everyone's track record and continued to think, the pace at which he was initially started to slow down a bit. "I...don't know." He responded. "Did you finally find out where you come from after all these years?" Lord Enma asked.

Kami nodded. "Yes. Apparently, I belong to a race called the Namekians. I was sent to earth and had no idea what I was to do with my life. Years of hoping my parents would come get me, years of wondering about my origins...I didn't know what to think."

"It just got to the point where you didn't care anymore, did it?" Lord Enma asked.

Kami nodded. "Exactly. I just stopped thinking about it. And then out of nowhere, it comes up. I know what I come from, but I know nothing about where I come from."

"That is...I must say, quite the situation." Enma just stamped somebody to heaven. "Do you want some advice?"

"It wouldn't hurt taking advice from a man even wiser than myself," Kami responded.

Lord Enma smiled, having been pleased by Kami's indirect compliment. "You and I both know that you are nearing the times of death. Sooner or later, your time is to come." Kami nodded, listening intently to Lord Enma. "If you want those same answers still from when you were a kid if you truly wish to get to know about your origins...then the next main thing would be going about finding a way to get to know your homeworld."

"Do you mean...actually go there?" Kami inquired.

"Well, yes..." Lord Enma answered, still stamping papers back to back. "If you wish to have some closure before your time, then I'd say it would be best well spent getting to know your planet, your people...your home." Enma glanced over to Kami. "Those years of loneliness can be gone in an instant the moment you're surrounded by them. All those feelings of loneliness and even maybe those little urges of rancor you felt would no longer be there. They'd feel foreign to you even."

"But..." Kami looked down at the ground. "I can't just leave earth..."

"Right," Enma nodded. "If you were to stay, I'd still understand. Your number one priority is to be the Guardian of the Planet Earth. That always comes first." Kami nodded in agreement. "But...there is no harm in getting to know your world. From what I've heard, the earth is currently at times of peace. It wouldn't be bad if you did happen to decide and go off...to get to know your people for a little while."

Kami didn't know what to think of it. He knew he had to come to a conclusion sometime soon. Before he could further ponder on the idea, he could hear his name being called from afar by a woman. "Are you Kami?" she asked, approaching him

"Hm?" Kami looked over at the person speaking to him. Before him appeared a young woman. Her eyes were wide, also looking like she was confused. "Ah," Kami smiled. "You must be Chi-Chi."

Chi-Chi nodded. "I was really brought back to life?" she asked.

"Yes," Kami answered truthfully. "They're all waiting patiently for you..."

"Then let's go right now!" Chi-Chi nearly yelled. Kami was partially startled. Lord Enma looked over at the two, alerted by Chi-Chi's sudden outburst.

"Heh. Yeah." Kami calmed himself. "Let's go home."

"Think about it..." Lord Enma spoke, still focused on his own work at hand.

Kami nodded. "Thank you, Lord Enma..." The big ogre just nodded, steady on his job, hoping to not make a mistake.

* * *

At the lookout, the skies were back to their clear natural colors. The Dragon Balls were all separately scattered into seven different areas of the planet. Kakarot had observed the directions they were going. 'Good...' the Saiyan grinned to himself. 'Now next time I need those orbs...I will already have a general idea of where to go get them.'

"That was amazing!!" Roshi said, astonished.

Krillin and Lazuli near had the same reaction, having never seen anything so mystical before. The summoning of Shenron had even woke the kids, which caught their attention as well. "See, the next time we use these things, let's hope that it won't be for wishing back any dead friends."

Everyone laughed.

"MOMMY!!" Ox suddenly yelled.

Kakarot had to hold in a scowl. "I thought I told you to stop saying mommy and daddy...you're nearly five years o-..." Kakarot paused. He could sense a new energy behind him. He then closed his eyes. The Saiyan needed not to look back, being well aware of who it was.

Everyone's hearts nearly dropped, seeing Ox re-united with his mother. "She's beautiful..." Dedana mouthed, just having gotten a first look at the woman named Chi-Chi, known as Ox's mother...and Kakarot's wife.

Even though Ox's definition of muscle had improved greatly, slowly growing into a young man; he was still five years old. And for that main reason, he was hugged up in his mother's arms. Chi-Chi had missed her son so much, as well did Ox miss his mom. The two couldn't hold back tears.

"Oh...I never saw Ox cry before..." Dedana said.

"Welcome back!" everyone greeted. The only ones that remained quiet was Kakarot and Dedana.

Chi-Chi was still in the moment, hugging her son. She tuned out the voices of everyone else. "Me and dad missed you..." Ox said, not letting go. As hard as he tried to hold those tears back with his eyes tightly shut, it was just impossible for him.

'Right...your dad.' Chi-Chi opened her eyes. She was hoping to see Kakarot right before her. And that was what she got, however, not the way she wanted it. The man was there, but his back was faced towards her. 'Kakarot...'

"Welcome home." Kakarot turned around. And finally, for the first time in a while, he got to see that face he used to make up every morning to. "Chi-Chi."

"AHahahaha!!" Chi-Chi started laughing through her tears, making way over to Kakarot. As she held Ox, she still managed to hug her husband. "Kakarot...I missed you."

Roshi, not being able to deal, pulled out a napkin from his shirt. And seeing this, Oolong immediately went to teasing. "What's the matter, old man?" Oolong asked.

"I...I think I got something in my eye." The man rubbed under his shades, to where people still wouldn't be able to see.

Puar lied down atop the old man's bald head. "It's okay to cry..." Puar smiled. "I know I probably will when Yamcha gets back."

"Tch!" Oolong spat. "You're all a bunch of babies."

"Yeah, tell me about it..." Yajirobe said from behind.

"Yeah..." Oolong said. But then hearing that same old gruff voice, Oolong shot away from him. "What the hell are you doing so close? I could feel you smelling me!"

"The sweet ole' smell of some bacon..." Yajirobe rubbed his belly, laughing.

Oolong shook his head. 'Damn weirdos, I tell ya...'

"I missed you..." Chi-Chi whispered over and over into her husband's ear.

The more he was being told this, the more Kakarot was finding himself uneasy. Still, in his head, he remembered the fresh image of his wife's body decaying before him. It was an ugly sight. But now, seeing her so well and effervescent...it just made his stomach churn. "So did I..." Kakarot responded, pulling back from the woman. 'No way in hell I'm going to let these fools see my emotions...'

"It's good to see you back, mom!" Ox yelled, touching down onto his two small feet, wiping his tears.

Chi-Chi, having gotten back, studied over her little boy. She saw how his wild hair grew out even more. If she would to see Kakarot's brother and then look back to her son, she would tell instantly that they were related. But other than that...she could tell he had been fighting. "Ox..." Chi-Chi said, raising the boy's arms, inspecting them.

"W-what...?" Ox asked. Chi-Chi started looking all around. "What's wrong?"

"She's acting like she never seen her own son before..." Dedana joked, nudging Kakarot on the shoulder a couple of times.

Kakarot sighed. "I understand you're not human like me...but at least I know how to understand their emotions better than you."

Dedana shrugged. "Magazines and t.v. taught me everything I know today!"

Everyone just rolled their eyes. Mr. Popo remained steady with the same ole smile he had.

"Are you happy now?" Kami asked, coming about from the shadows.

Everyone turned around, their eyes now on the senior Namekian. "Hey!!" everyone yelled. "Welcome back."

Kami just nodded, acknowledging all their greetings.

"You got some newcomers!" A voice yelled from behind.

Everyone's attention immediately went to behind Kami. Out came exactly whom they were all expecting: Chaotzu, Lapis, Tien, and Yamcha. The very four.

"Hi!!"

"Yamcha!!" Krillin ran over to his friend, excited to see him.

"Whoah!!!" Yamcha held his hands back. Krillin, realizing he still had his kids in his hands, slowed down. "You got babies on board, due! Chill down a little, huh?"

"Oh!" Krillin looked at his kids, who were both laughing. "They seemed to like the sudden burst of speed." Puar was hugging the scarred fighter tightly, holding back tears.

"Hey everyone..." Tien greeted, Chaotzu sitting on his shoulders.

"Hello..." Kakarot greeted, staring right at him.

Tien smirked. 'I just come out here and he can already tell I've grown a lot stronger. Hell, he's probably itching to take me on right now.'

"Lazuli..." Lapis walked over to his sister. Both twins were all grins. Lapis could see Lazuli pressing her lips hard together. No words needed to be shared. The siblings both missed one another equally. Lapis just smiled and raised Lazuli's face up with his hand. "Chin up, sis."

Lazuli smiled. "Welcome back."

The twin now had his attention onto his nephew and niece that Lazuli was carrying into her arms. "A twin has quadruplets, huh?" Lapis chuckled. "Ain't that something..."

"Look at this..." Mr. Popo told Kami. "The earth is restored...and everyone's back."

Kami nodded. "Just as I hoped things would be." The two watched as everyone talked to one another and caught up. "It's a good thing to see, you know?"

"Indeed..." Mr. Popo nodded. "It sure is."

"Everyone..." Kami called out. "May I have your attention?"

Kami didn't even need to speak twice. The moment he was heard, everyone turned around. "What is it?" Lapis asked his old teacher.

"I've been thinking about some things for quite a while now," Kami started. "Ever since it was revealed to me where exactly I come from, I've been having this urge to want to attend my home planet."

"Planet Namek?" Dedana asked.

"Yes...how did you know?"

"My people are very well informed of your kind," Dedana said. "There are many tales of Planet Namek."

Kami smiled. 'Even a foreigner knows more than I do. Heh.' Kami just had to see for himself. "I have decided on something that is very unlike me."

"What is that?" Mr. Popo asked. Usually, Kami would tell him everything. Being out of the loop of what Kami was thinking at the moment, Mr. Popo was sure it would be something of great importance.

"I decided that I want to go to Planet Namek," Kami said. "No, I need to go there." Everyone was left without any comments. "I'm an old man, and the years have gone by past me." Kami then thought on it for a moment. "Quincentennial. That is the perfect word to describe just how old I am right now. Sooner or later my time will pass and I need closure before I go."

"Well, I can make that happen," Bulma said, being the first person to speak out on Kami's wishes. "Thanks to Pilaf, I can get one of the pods ready for you. It will accommodate you perfectly on your travels back home."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Bulma nodded. "I just need to get the coordinates for Planet Namek and I'll gladly bring you there."

"Thank you," Kami said. "But in the meantime...I will need someone to look over this world. In my absence, a guardian of the planet is always needed." He looked at everyone. "I can already tell by the looks coming from some of you that you are not willing. However...I need someone or I can't go."

"I'll gladly do it..." Everyone looked over to Lapis, who was the one to speak up quickly. "I have no problem helping you out. It's the least I can do for you after all you've done for me."

A great relief came over Kami. "Thank you," he told his former trainee. "I'm truly not that surprised that you'd be willing to do it. But I thank you for it."

Lapis nodded. "Of course."

"So now what?" Krillin asked.

"I'm going home," Kakarot said. The Saiyan grabbed Chi-Chi's hand. "You all can figure it out. I have a life to get back to now." Being careful with Chi-Chi, he slowly ascended into the air. Both Ox and Dedana trailed behind.

"So I guess that's that, huh?" Tien asked. He looked over at Kakarot. 'I will get my rematch sometime...' With Chaotzu on his shoulders, Tien started to take off as well. "What do you say about going say hi to an old friend?" Tien asked.

"Launch?" Choatzu inquired. It had been a long while since they had seen their best bipolar friend.

Tien just smirked. "Yep. You want to, Chaotzu?"

"Yeah!" Chaotzu yelled, excited to go see his friend.

"Well, okay." Tien quickly looked back to everyone. "Have a good day everyone!"

Everyone waved at him and Chaotzu as they took off. Slowly, the lookout was beginning to become empty. It was all left to Kami, Mr. Popo...and Lapis, who just got done waving good-bye his sister and friends.

"Bulma will be getting the pod ready immediately," Lapis informed the old man as he walked near him. "You should be on your way there."

Kami nodded. "Lapis..." he placed an arm on the man's shoulders. "As a former pupil of mines, I trust you to look over this planet well while I'm gone."

Lapis just smirked. "You already know I got this, old man." He then pointed behind him. "While I hold down the fort, why don't you do what you gotta do and get on home, huh?"

Kami just nodded. "Yeah. I can just ask King Kai the coordinates of Planet Namek." He removed his hand from Lapis' shoulders and started to walk past him. "I'll see you in a while," Kami told him.

Both Lapis and Mr. Popo watched as he hopped off from the lookout. Yes, he was old, though Kami still could fly.

* * *

While it was bright early in the morning when everyone had gotten together, time passed rapidly after the main event. The sun was soon to set and in Kakarot's home, this meant that it was almost dinner time.

Inside the house, both Chi-Chi and Dedana was preparing the meals for Kakarot and Ox, whom were both sparring just outside. "What do you think?" Dedana asked Chi-Chi. "I'm doing pretty good so far?"

Chi-Chi just nodded. From the moment she had got back, it had occurred on her mind from time to time just who Dedana was. Not having the perfect chance to ask before, she did now. "So...are you an assistant of Kakarot's?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Something like that..." Dedana said, getting the plates on the table ready. "I figured Kakarot would tell you all that happened."

"Why don't you?" Chi-Chi asked. "We do have time. We just have to wait until the food is finished." From the moment she happened to lay eyes on Dedana, so many questions ran through her mind. Not to mention the fact that she is supposedly living with them now. While Chi-Chi kept her mouth shut on the way home, she had many things she wanted to ask.

"Hm..." Dedana was tapping her chin. "It's sort of a long story..."

"I can listen," Chi-Chi said. She went over to the kitchen table and got two chairs ready. She took one and the other was open, just for Dedana.

"You sure?" Dedana asked. The woman started to near the chair so she could get comfortable.

Chi-Chi nodded. She was sure whatever story Dedana had for her, she was surely ready for it. After all, she had witnessed through her short life, Chi-Chi was quite sure that she could handle it. "Yeah...hit me." All of what Chi-Chi currently thought Dedana could possibly be at the moment, she definitely wasn't.

And by the end of it all, Chi-Chi wanted to take back those very three words that she had said earlier. From Kakarot having to go to another planet to dispose of an entire race, to having Dedana as his slave. She assumed that Kakarot just happened to go on a business trip, on earth. But not out in space. From the very start of Dedana's story, when she began with the setting, Chi-Chi's jaw was already halfway down to falling on the floor.

For the rest of the day, Chi-Chi was rather silent. Through the meal, she would respond to some things that she was spoken, but she kept to herself. The thing constantly going on in her head was the fact that Dedana was truly Kakarot's slave (at least that was what Dedana said). And being that, she was well aware that a slave must do anything its master tells them. In her absence, anything could have happened and that was what worried the woman.

As the waning crescent of the moon shone brightly from above, Chi-Chi was still wide awake. After the meal, Kakarot had fallen right asleep the moment he lied down on the bed. Looking at the clock on the counter just ahead of her, it was midnight.

Kakarot was sleeping peacefully. The Saiyan had a good day. He felt really accomplished. He helped bring the earth back to the way it was meant to be. His business was now bringing in nearly quadruple the income from before. His wife was back and everything was just perfect. The only thing he missed was fighting.

Fighting...

That's when Kakarot's eyes instantly shot open from his sleep. Something was bothering him. It had been for a little while now, but he just shoved it off. But now...the feeling was just unavoidable. Just as Chi-Chi soon found herself to doze off to sleep, Kakarot was wide awake. Getting up, he was in his pajamas. Looking over at Chi-Chi, he could see his wife safely sound asleep on the bed. He took in a deep breath. 'Just when you think everything is in order...one piece instantly comes crashing down.'

* * *

Over at Kame House, Krillin and Lazuli had both soundly put their kids to sleep. The father of all four of those children had a soft smile. He couldn't take his eyes off them.

"What's the matter?" Lazuli asked Krillin.

Krillin looked over to Lazuli. "Oh, nothing..." He clicked his tongue, laughing.

Lazuli just smirked and placed her hand on her hips. "Krillin..." she insisted. The woman could very well tell when Krillin was hiding something. "Spit it out."

Krillin sighed. "I don't know." he shrugged. "I just feel like everything's almost perfect now." He glanced at the sleeping quadruplets. "These kids..." Krillin slowly moved his gaze off out the window across from him, staring right into the scintillating moon; it being so bright, the reflection could be well seen through his eyes. "The world." Lazuli, feeling a touch of her hand, looked at the man's arm. Once she looked back at Krillin, she found the man looking up at her. "You..."

Lazuli pressed her lips together, quite not knowing what to say. She herself wasn't much of a deep talker. Neither her or Krillin was, but it just truly wasn't her cup of tea. "Everything's just perfect," Lazuli said. "I think I get it, Krillin."

"No..." Krillin said. "I said almost."

"So...?" Lazuli asked.

"Lazuli..." Krillin slowly lifted the woman's hand, up to his face. Krillin placed his free hand into his shirt. As he came out with it, both had their eyes on a dazzling ring. "Will you marry me?"

* * *

As mentioned many times, every single section of the planet earth was rebuilt; all of them being carefully inspected, even the lower parts of the world got an upgrade in lifestyle. The cities were thriving as well.

In the busy streets of West City, Capsule Corp was always the main sight. In the very backyard of Capsule Corp Bulma, with the company of her parents, Yamcha, Puar, were all looking onto Kami.

"Don't give me credit for making them," Bulma disclaimed, chuckling. "Pilaf did the most of the work. I just make replicas."

"Inside, there are a few more buttons installed. Depending on the ones you pick, you'll either get some snacks or juice...courtesy of Capsule Corp."

"Thank you," Kami said, bowing to the people. "King Kai told me the coordinates of the planet. Also, according to him, I should be there six days from now."

"Wow!" Bulma exclaimed. "They go that fast?"

Kami grinned. "I thank you for all you've done for me so far." The pod's door being opened, Kami headed on inside it. The moment he set his behind on the soft cushion of the seat, he let out a relaxing breather. "I'll pay you back somehow."

Bulma shook her head. "No. This is compensation for your services. It's long overdue actually."

With a press of a button, the door of the pod steadily started to close. Through the glass door, he could see them all waving him goodbye as he was getting ready to take his leave. Kami had so many questions, all of them he had no idea of. And the fact that he was just over 100 hours of getting his answers, he wasn't quite sure what to think.

He was going to find out soon though, for sure.

* * *

As one was to leave the earth, one would eventually come back.

"Ah...I never really got the chance to see the night on this planet before." In the skies, hundreds of stars could be shone, shining brightly. "Hm." Trying to get an idea of anyone's whereabouts, he couldn't sense anyone near him. The man was in the middle of nowhere. Much like elite fighters, he had his ki suppressed.

"I see you're enjoying the view," Kakarot said from behind. He had been just waiting the moment that the visitor would return. As soon as he felt his ki and jumped out of bed, he was ready.

The man looked into the air. Among the many stars, it appeared to be something flying into the sky. Getting a closer look, he could obviously tell that it was a pod. "I wonder...who could be taking off at such a time?" He started to raise his hands, the ki traveling through his arms until they reached his hands. He could very well see Kakarot in his peripheral sighting, but he ignored the man.

"Your fight is with me...Vegeta." Kakarot growled. The man was still in his pajamas. With Vegeta having arrived, he already knew that the threat was far too urgent to not tend to. He wasn't going to waste any time getting a better change of clothes.

Vegeta lowered his hands, the same old smirk on his face. "I sincerely hope you're happy to see me, Kakarot." Just by simply looking at the lower class Saiyan, Vegeta was having a hard time holding back his rising animosity.

The two Saiyans just stared at one another. Kakarot had a grudge to pay back, as did Vegeta.

Nobody except the ones looking over the earth was aware that a life or death battle was to take place in mere moments. As far as everyone else knew, everything was perfect.

The others were going to be alerted soon enough, though.

* * *


	31. The Three-Way

Man, I got to say. The reviews I've gotten has been alott! Special shoutout for Jredd and TheRealKakarotto02. You guys blew it all up. And a thanks to K47 and a guy1013. All of you, it's much appreciated. I've been getting good feedback and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

* * *

Kakarot was wearing black sweatpants and a white muscle shirt. He was in flat shoes as well. The person before him was wearing armor everywhere. Yet once again, Kakarot would have to start a battle against Vegeta while being at a disadvantage. "I figured you'd come back here someday."

Vegeta's face straightened out, now getting serious. "Kakarot...! The outcome of this battle won't be the same as last time! That I can promise you."

Kakarot got on guard. "You're right. I'm going to beat you by myself this time."

Vegeta's face twitched at the remark. No longer wanting to hear any more cocky comments coming from Kakarot's mouth, Vegeta fizzled out of sight. The battle had begun.

Kakarot looked around carefully, keeping poise. Searching out for Vegeta's power level, he was hoping he'd be able to be a step ahead and figure out how his opponent would approach him. 'Gotcha.' Kakarot rose the both of his arms.

Vegeta had the both of his hands in a knife hand strike position. Kakarot had already read that Vegeta would go for the neck and blocked them both with his arms. 'Fast...!' He was alerted now. Vegeta wasn't starting off playing as much as he did last time.

Both of them were struggling momentarily. Vegeta was seething through his teeth, trying to win over the struggle. Vegeta rose his foot and slammed it right into Kakarot's chest, sending the taller Saiyan sliding away from him, his foot deeply planted into the ground.

"Ra!" Vegeta fired off a bright yellow ball of ki for Kakarot.

Kakarot swatted the attack away with his wrist and fired one back. Looking ahead, the energy attack was still traveling on passed Vegeta's location. He had missed. 'Damn it...!'

Vegeta descended down from above, getting ready to knife hand strike Kakarot right on his shoulder blades. Being a tad bit too late into react, Kakarot was forced to crouch down due to the impact. Not slowing down, Vegeta rammed his knee into Kakarot's back.

Kakarot had no choice but to press his hands against the ground in order to not fall flat on his face. Out from the bottom left corner of his eye, he could see Vegeta's foot coming right for him. Quickly, Kakarot raised his left hand, preventing Vegeta's left boot from crushing his nose.

Vegeta simply used his other foot, driving the tip of his boot into Kakarot's abdomen. Kakarot fell over on his back and started to roll over. Vegeta struck his hand out, forming a ball of energy. Kakarot shot up onto one knee and fired one off as well.

Directly upon impact, the balls of ki both exploded. The mini shockwave blew Kakarot away off his knee. Going with the flow, Kakarot did a few back rolls before jumping right up to his feet. Looking across from him for the smoke ahead, he wasn't able to see Vegeta through it clearly enough. Kakarot ascended up into the sky, keeping his eyes on the smoke ahead of him.

A large hole was created in through all the dust, it being big enough for an attack to shoot right through. It was moving so fast that Kakarot just barely managed to dodge it by bending backward. As soon as he placed his face back up, he received a face directly in the jaw.

Seeing how Vegeta was going to follow up, the Saiyan ducked under an elbow. Coming back with a strong counter, he stuffed his hard fist into Vegeta's gut. Kakarot backed off for a moment before adding to his combo with a hard right hook to the face. He placed his left hand against Vegeta's chest and prepared an energy attack.

Reacting quickly, Vegeta broke off Kakarot's attack by ramming his elbow into the man's wrist. Losing his precision with the attempted strike, the ball of ki shot down into the ground below, forming a huge explosion. 'Shit!'

Vegeta rendered Kakarot a hard uppercut. With a hard shot to the organs, Vegeta held both of his arms out as far as he could and blasted Kakarot head on. Said Saiyan fell hard down below, sliding against the rocks. Kakarot hopped up into the air, performing a few backflips before falling right on his two feet.

'I can't catch a break, can I?' Kakarot pounced up into the air, avoiding another ki attack that was meant from him. He looked onto his side below him, another section of the area being blown up. Vegeta came crashing his foot into Kakarot's hip, sending said Saiyan back onto the surface of the planet.

Kakarot managed to position himself to landing on one foot, standing up straight. Slowly, he placed his other one down, watching Vegeta carefully. Vegeta just crossed his arms, smirking. "Not as easy as it was before now, isn't it Kakarot?" He touched down on the ground, not too far away from Kakarot.

"You're not wasting your time having fun like before. Last time, it was actually harder. I've gotten much stronger now since then."

"Won't save you from death, Kakarot. I've gotten stronger as well thanks to our battle." Vegeta was creating two balls of energy. "I'll finish you as early as I can. You deserve death."

Kakarot stood on his guard, preparing himself to take Vegeta head on. The two were to make a move, but they could feel a bright light nearing them from the side. Kakarot turned to his left and Vegeta his right. The two Saiyans spotted a wave of yellow ki coming right for them.

The both of them each hopped backward, avoiding it as it struck in the middle. Kakarot and Vegeta covered their faces, but they kept their eyes peeled for whoever dared to try and strike them both.

Soon, as the smoke began to clear, they could see it was an individual. He was wearing something mostly made up of white. Kakarot's eyes bulged as soon as he got familiar with the ki. 'Piccolo...!'

Piccolo came down onto the ground before the very two. "We're not getting the party started without me."

Vegeta chuckled, upon realizing who it was. "So the Namekian comes out of hiding. Do you really think you can stand up to me? Fool, you weren't even able to stand up to Raditz..."

Piccolo scoffed. "Doesn't matter. I can take on the both of you now. I figured why not save my time and kill the two of you."

Kakarot chuckled. "Did you hit your head on a rock in your time away? Because it seems you forgot how much stronger I am than you."

"And if you truly can't be able to stand up to me for sure if you can't handle Kakarot!"

Piccolo just shook his head. "You two idiots are so blinded by your own powers you can't even see what's lying dormant before your eyes." Piccolo then grinned. "But try it now." The Namekian got serious, his cocky face having faltered. "Hm!" A bright blaze of white ki surrounded him with a simple shout.

Kakarot and Vegeta were both just left without any comments at all. Piccolo's powers shot up and out from nowhere, surpassing that of both Kakarot and Vegeta.

The two Saiyans got on guard. Vegeta powered up, his aura rocketing into a blaze of light as well. Vegeta shot over to Kakarot and elbowed the Saiyan right into his stomach. Kakarot didn't see the attack coming at all and fell over to his knees.

Vegeta looked ahead for Piccolo. "This fight is between me and Kakarot!" Vegeta reached out with his two arms, forming energy attacks. "You're going to die first!"

Piccolo zoomed in on Vegeta, making moves before Vegeta would even able to do so. Piccolo was mere inches from Vegeta in a matter of seconds. Vegeta let his balls of ki fire off anyway. The two simply flew right passed Piccolo's neck, carrying on into the sky from very far away.

Piccolo stepped over to the side, moving his head back as well to have Vegeta's attempt at a punch miss completely. Kakarot came from behind, his fist cocked back and ready for Piccolo himself.

'Heh.' Piccolo sensed this from a mile away and just paused for a moment. He and Vegeta were both making hard contact, too. Getting the right moment, Piccolo just vanished.

The very thing to replace the green man's face was four white knuckles coming for him. Vegeta was clocked right in the nose. Having not expected the hit, he was sent off his feet and positioned onto his back.

"Shit...!" Kakarot cursed.

"Wrong person." Piccolo presented himself right by the shoulder of Kakarot. The Saiyan turned around and backed up the moment he appeared. He was on the edge of his toes, trying his best to keep up. Piccolo was just grinning. "You'll only find your way out of this by a miracle." Piccolo decked Kakarot in the cheek.

Vegeta was flying directly at the two. He could see Piccolo's punch had sent Kakarot flying right for him. Vegeta simply moved out of the way, allowing Kakarot to continue through the air. The Saiyan himself fired up his aura even more, speeding up for Piccolo.

Piccolo headed right for Vegeta as well, making the distance between the two close twice as fast. Piccolo blocked Vegeta's ki of energy with his elbow. Vegeta had poured a great decent amount of energy, hoping it'd do some damage. Piccolo just chuckled and kneed Vegeta in the stomach. He proceeded to grab Vegeta's hand full of ki and crush it.

Vegeta started to moan, most of his violent tone coming from pure anger. The energy in his hand had no choice but to cancel out. Using his other free hand, Vegeta tried to blast Piccolo at blank point range once again.

Piccolo used his own palm to block the attack. Once it made contact, the attack exploded in the Saiyan's face. Piccolo let go of Vegeta's hand and kicked the Saiyan atop the head as he fell.

Vegeta went crashing down into the hard ground below, cracks being made all over within a 15-inch radius. Kakarot was watching below from afar up at Piccolo. "How!" he called out. "How the hell could you get so strong in just a year's training? What the hell did you do?"

Piccolo smiled. "What does such information matter to dead people?" The Namekian dashed down forward for Kakarot.

Kakarot shook his head. "I can't dodge this!" The Saiyan was charging energy in his hands. "How the hell do I beat this clown?"

Piccolo was chuckling aloud. "Your end has come, Kakarot. Once you're gone, I'll happily take care of everyone else for you."

Kakarot scoffed. "Like hell you will..." he used afterimage, his physical self starting to fizzle out. Piccolo shot one energy attack for the afterimage and turned right around, firing one up ahead. He then went on to fly backward, looking on for the two ki blasts he shot.

"Rahhh!" Kakarot was hit by the one in the sky. He fought through it, though many pieces of his clothing had holes in it. Bruises and scratches found themselves on parts of his body that weren't there before.

"What's the matter?" Piccolo taunted. Vegeta was coming from above as well, and Piccolo could sense this. "You two are relentless." Piccolo raised one of his arms into the sky. He used his other one and aimed it for Kakarot. The two Saiyans were both making way towards him with great haste. Piccolo then just changed his mind and placed his two balls of ki together. Backing his hands away he just let them collide together, forming a sizable ball of ki twice as big as the original.

Both Kakarot and Vegeta each started to slow down, not wanting to get caught up in the attack. Though, for both of them, it was extremely difficult as their momentum was too great. Piccolo seized this opportunity and shot a little beam at the ball of ki, causing a premature explosion.

Both Kakarot and Vegeta were more than close enough to be fazed by the explosion of the attack. They were both redirected backward by the sheer pressure of the shockwave. Piccolo descended down to the ground, smirking. "What's the matter? You two aren't holding up so well."

Vegeta and Kakarot both scoffed at the Namekian's comment. "Your way of playing around will be the very cause of your defeat!" Kakarot yelled far away.

Piccolo didn't respond anything. He had run those last words through his head a few more times. "Hm." Piccolo removed the turban he had atop his head. "You may be right, Kakarot. I am playing too much."

The two Saiyans noticed the turban made a little crack in the ground as soon as it landed. They watched as he took off his cloak as well, releasing the rest of the weighted clothing off him. "He's getting even stronger...!" Vegeta couldn't believe it.

"The sooner I can get done with you, the sooner as my position as the ruler of this planet will be back in place." Piccolo let out a brief cry, powering up. Even after the minor boost in power he got, he still managed to augment it. Both Kakarot and Vegeta could feel the major increase, and this made them far more anxious for round 2.

Piccolo just zapped ahead at them both. Neither of them caught it before it was too late. Kakarot looked over to his side, seeing Vegeta being kicked across the face. Knowing he was next, raised his fist before him in attempt to strike Piccolo.

Piccolo was already passed this, his own fist making contact with Kakarot's gut.

"OOGH!" Kakarot spat out saliva, starting to wheeze for air. Piccolo didn't let him catch his breath and drove his elbow against the upper back. Kakarot was sent plummeting down below towards the ground. Sticking his hands out, Piccolo blasted Kakarot on the back head on. He watched as Kakarot had crashed face first into the ground, being followed up by a giant explosion.

Vegeta knew that the attack happened to do major damage. He wiped the blood trickling away from his lip using his white glove, which was now tainted. Vegeta spat the remaining out, keeping his eye on Piccolo. "I've about had enough with you!" Vegeta powered up once more.

Piccolo just hovered in the air above. "Try me." His evergrowing confidence was pissing the hell out of Vegeta.

Vegeta let out a cannon of ki attacks for Piccolo. Vegeta let out dozens upon dozens seconds at a time. One by one, the little ki attacks merged together with another nearby. As all of them started to come together, the larger they grew.

Piccolo could see that they were still coming for him, and growing larger at the same time. It was as if it was turning into one giant ball. Piccolo happily took on this challenge and flew head first into the attack.

"I got you now!" Vegeta fired a wave of energy, which made contact with the enormous attack. A grand detonation followed suit, all of the heat coming into contact with Piccolo, the one who dared himself into going up against it.

Vegeta was breathing a little faster than he would normally, that move having taken a bit out of him. "W-What!" Vegeta bellowed.

Out from the humongous cloud of smoke, came Piccolo. The Namekian held his hand out, shooting away multiple small energy attacks at once as well. Vegeta was too slow and not able to dodge anything. Putting his arms ahead of his face, all he could do was prepare himself and hope for the best.

The first few hits he managed to stand up to against, having put in a grand amount of effort. But as more came, it got harder for Vegeta to simply just fight on. They were beginning to push him back, lowering him to the ground below.

Eventually, Vegeta was struggling to even stand, his boots sliding into the ground. "GRRRR...!" Piccolo didn't slow down one bit, still going ahead for Vegeta. Making it up close to the Saiyan's face, Piccolo hit him with a stronger attack at point blank range. "ARGH!" Having no choice but to give in, Vegeta had let the attack consume his entire body.

Piccolo just stood there, with a wide smile. Kakarot rose up from being inside a crater for a little bit. A grand bit of his skin was now revealed, nearly half of his sweatpants having gone up in smoke. He had little pieces of his shirt on his back thanks to some weak strands around his shoulder. Kakarot was greatly damaged and taking deep, heavy breaths. "T-that wasn't even 10 seconds against him..."

Kakarot could see Piccolo live and well from where he was currently at. 'He hasn't even broken a sweat. He's not holding anything back at all.' Kakarot clenched his fist. 'Could it be that we're that weak...?' Kakarot was getting a bit upset, his anger starting to rise.

Piccolo looked back over to Kakarot. "Now you can't do anything to defeat me. It's over with for you."

Kakarot was huffing and puffing. "I always prevail. This won't be any different."

"That's cause you've gotten many bailouts in your life." Piccolo turned his attention towards him. "Against me, you're going to die."

Kakarot just smirked. "I'd love to see you try."

Vegeta came up from under a bunch of rubble, his attire totally messed and ragged. "I-I won't let you..." The Saiyan stood up. "Kakarot is mine!"

"Hm." Piccolo turned his attention to Vegeta. "I have no problem with killing you both." He stretched his hand out for Vegeta's neck. Using his other one, he did the same to Kakarot. Both Saiyans reacted far too late and both were caught in. "With your deaths, I won't have any other problems in the way of my goals for world domination."

Piccolo reeled the two Saiyans in, having them purposely bump in one another with the sides of their heads. A groan of pain came from the both of them. "I'm not going to waste any more time with either of you."

Letting them both go, Piccolo gut-checked them before either of them could fall. Quickly he opened his palms and blasted the two dead on. Kakarot and Vegeta were both equally sent through a giant rock in the middle of the rocky mountains. All of the hard material came falling on both of them at once.

Piccolo started to hover into the sky. "No longer will I be playing around with the both of you." Electrical energy popped around the bright yellow energy generating from the palm of his hand.

"Tch!" Vegeta popped out from under all the rubble of rocks. He looked over to the side of him, sensing Kakarot was under some as well. "Kakarot!" Vegeta yelled over to the Saiyan.

Kakarot came from under the rocks, taking deep and heavy breaths. "Y-yeah...?"

Vegeta quickly stood up on his two feet, carefully keeping his eyes on the Namekian up above. "I don't do this for your benefit." Vegeta charged a big white ball in his hand. Vegeta cocked it back and threw it ahead up into the sky.

Piccolo chuckled. "Any attacks from here on out is fruitless." The white ball just zoomed passed his face, going high up into the clouds. Seeing it wasn't just some ordinary attack, Piccolo was getting kind of curious now. "What is that exactly?"

Kakarot looked over to Vegeta. "W-what are you doing?"

Vegeta chuckled. "Burst and Mix!"

The bright shine the ball of energy was illuminating seemed to increase tenfold, as well as the size. Piccolo looked up into the air. "W-What the hell is he doing?"

Vegeta was smiling ear to ear. "Kakarot, what do you think it could possibly be?"

Kakarot had his gaze just set out on the crystal white ball above him. "I-I don't know. It...looks like the...t-the moon..."

Piccolo's eyes shot open. "Wait!" He took a double take at the object above him. The man started to get flashbacks. Years ago, his father, facing Kakarot. The Full Moon. His defeat. His birth.

Kakarot had a wide gaze on it. 'T-This feels familiar...' Kakarot's body suddenly jerked. His eyes began to turn a red color. The hard beat of his heart intensified many times over. And then, a tingly feeling went down his back.

"R-Ragh!" Kakarot's mouth went agape, all of his teeth and tongue being shown. His omnivorous type teeth began to turn into a set of razor-sharp fangs. Fur started to make its way all over his body, from his face down to his shoulders, arms, feet, and legs. His height started to grow many feet by the second! In just a matter of moments, Kakarot now took the form of a 100-foot monstrous looking ape.

"RAWWWWWW!" Kakarot stretched out his big furry arms as high as he could, giving out the loudest roar his organs would allow him to. The Saiyan's tone of voice deepened substantially.

Vegeta was on the ground, just chuckling to himself. 'Now I got the bastard where I want him.' The Saiyan hopped away and into the air.

Kakarot, having finally calmed down, had his eyes set for Piccolo. With a minor of change from Kakarot's snout, it appeared as if he was smirking. "Hi." Lifting its big and heavy set feet off the ground, he was making way over for Piccolo.

Piccolo launched off one of the attacks he had been preparing. Being smart, Piccolo shot down below and passed Kakarot by flying under him. Kakarot swatted the attack away and started to slow himself down. Piccolo turned around, still in mid-air and fired that one away as well.

Flipping over, Piccolo landed on his two feet.

"You still have to deal with me fool!" Vegeta bellowed from above. Vegeta didn't hold anything back and had his hands rocket off dozens of ki attacks.

Piccolo blocked them all using only one of his arms. Clouds over clouds of dust and smoke were being formed by the countless mini explosions coming from Vegeta. As Vegeta continued to do this, Kakarot was finally able to turn around, looking for Piccolo.

Vegeta then stopped and looked over at Kakarot from far away. The Saiyan shot down, making his way near Piccolo. "We're over here, fool!" Vegeta yelled, baiting Kakarot. "Take a shot!"

Kakarot opened his mouth out wide. As if he sneezed, Kakarot blew his head forward with great force. Out from his mouth exited a giant purple ball full of ki. Vegeta chuckled and came to an immediate halt, stopping himself from flying further south near Piccolo. Taking note that Kakarot's extraordinary ball full of ki was coming at him quickly, Vegeta instantly started to fly back to create space.

Piccolo was down above, seeing that it was coming right for him. Seeing where Vegeta was, Piccolo stretched out his elastic arms for the man.

As Vegeta was just starting to get into an area where he wouldn't be affected by the impact at all, Piccolo had snatched him right by his ankles. No matter how hard he would try, Vegeta wouldn't be able to set himself free. He now had no other choice but to be reeled back into the extreme danger zone.

A truly great imposing explosion had been created as soon as the ball of energy made contact with the ground. Both Piccolo and Vegeta were right in the area and Kakarot knew this well. 'So now I got them both good...I can win this after all.'

With the smoke cleared, Vegeta could be seen on his knees within the area, coughing heavily. The Saiyan's white gloves were all ripped, showing more than 80% of his hands. His upper armor was entirely blown off; that only leaving him in his own blue suit underneath, which was just ragged and totally tattered up.

Vegeta couldn't believe that he was that close to death. 'A few more feet in and I would have been a goner...!' Slowly, he looked over to his side. The moment he saw Piccolo in the condition he was in, he went wide-eyed.

The Namekian's entire right shoulder was blown off, and from the waist down. He was almost left with only half a body, still able to keep his entire face. He was leaking blood, that just constantly dripped to the ground beneath him. It took a lot of himself to refrain from screaming. Piccolo's entire body began to shake.

"H-How in the hell is he not dead?" Vegeta questioned. "I know these Namekians were something special, but this is impossible...!"

"RAHHHHHH!" Piccolo screamed at the top of his lungs, veins popping up all over his entire body. It appeared as if all the missing parts of his body started to shake, green liquids slowly turning into solids.

SPLURGE!

Piccolo happened to regenerate his entire another half of his body, a bunch of blood flying into the air and going splat on the ground. Piccolo was breathing super heavy, just having to do that took a lot out of him.

"I got you both where I want," Kakarot boomed.

Vegeta growled. "Don't get cocky!"

Piccolo was taking heavy breathers. "What power...! I-I should be dead!"

Kakarot dashed right at the both of them. "Now it's time to end this!"

Piccolo was wide-eyed. "Stop!"

Kakarot just chuckled. "Time to get my win from the both of you!"

"Fool! You kill me, Kami dies! With Kami dead, the dragon balls won't work anymore!"

Kakarot came to an immediate stop. "D-Damn...!" That didn't even come to mind as he was preparing to kill Piccolo. Kakarot was so caught up in the moment that all thoughts of consequences were straight out the window.

"D-Dragon Balls?" Vegeta questioned. "What the hell are those?"

"Seven magical orbs here they all use to make wishes with. That's how they got all their little weakling friends back."

'Huh...' It all finally came together. 'So that's why it would disappear. A Namekian made it.' He then smirked.

"Fine! I just kill you then!" Kakarot roared.

Vegeta raised his hand in the air. "As if I'd ever let you!" Vegeta formed a razor-sharp disk hovering right above his hand. Vegeta hopped off the ground and went off for Kakarot. "You can take this."

The energy disk zoomed its way in over on Kakarot. The Saiyan simply hopped into the air. "What are you trying to do?" Kakarot was chuckling.

Vegeta just had a smile on his face the whole time. Seeing the disk just go right through the giant gap of Kakarot's legs, he knew it was all over. As soon as the disk ripped through the Saiyan's giant monkey tail, Kakarot stopped his moment of laughter.

The giant tail fell over and just flopped around on the ground, kicking up dust. Kakarot was beginning to revert back to his normal form as he was falling down. The man fell hard on his back, completely naked.

The Saiyan stood up, feeling a throbbing sensation going up to his spinal chord. "You son of a..." Kakarot then looked down. 'Shit...!'

Piccolo stuck his hands out. "I've rested enough." The Namekian shot off a blast for Kakarot.

The naked Saiyan quickly scanned the area, just hoping he'd find a piece of torn clothing before he could escape off with his life. Finding a long, thick strand, belonging to his sweatpants, Kakarot jacked it off the ground and shot up into the air, dodging Piccolo's attack.

Piccolo snorted. 'I've gotten weaker...'

Kakarot tied the clothing surrounding his lower body, no longer revealing himself as much. But the rest of his insanely ripped body was remained to be seen.

Vegeta and Piccolo chuckled. "You're dead, Kakarot." The Saiyan stretched out his hand. "Prepare to die."

Piccolo quickly formed a ball of ki in his hand and fired it off away at Kakarot. "He's mine!"

Vegeta was alerted quickly and launched his attack immediately after. "No, you don't!"

Kakarot was on guard. 'Two attacks from the two combined will be deadly...' Kakarot shook his head. 'Yet I have no other choice.' Charging a ball of ki in his hand, he shot off his own attack as well.

Piccolo and Vegeta's attacks came together and collided as one, just consuming Kakarot's ball of energy as well. The Saiyan cursed to himself. 'That just about worked as well as I thought.'

Kakarot was hit dead on, the attack exploding on impact. Kakarot was sent back due to the shockwave, the heat of the energy attack having done great damage to him. He was sent flying through multiple rocks at once.

Vegeta shot up into the air and fired off another one just for safety measures. "I get the final say."

Piccolo just scoffed. "I don't care about him anymore." He looked over to Vegeta. "I'm worried about you." Both Piccolo and Vegeta gave one another glares.

"No, If I were you both I'd be worried about myself."

Both Piccolo and Vegeta looked over to the man talking to him. Vegeta didn't have any general idea who he could be, never having met the person before. "Who the hell are you?"

"One of the dead resurrected," Piccolo answered, knowing just who it was.

Yamcha just grinned. "I've been waiting to get a crack at you, Piccolo." He then eyed Vegeta. "And you, too."

The Saiyan didn't sense much of a big energy coming from the scarred male. "I'll send you right back to the dead where you came from. You must not have witnessed my power before."

Yamcha ignited his aura, and with a big smile. "I've been waiting to test my powers as soon as I left King Kai's world. You two are the perfect ones to take it out on."

Kakarot walked out from the rocks, stumbling as he did. The Saiyan was bleeding in many different places of his semi-nude body. "It's useless...They'll just overpower you."

Vegeta scoffed. "As if I'd work with a Namekian."

Piccolo looked over for Kakarot. "I'll just finish you instead." The Namekian shot over for Kakarot.

Yamcha eyed Piccolo's movements. He was standing still for a moment, thinking how he'd make his move. "No, you don't!" Yamcha dashed right to the side of him, sticking his foot out.

Piccolo was met with a kick right into his hip. Instead of continuing his way over to Kakarot, he was sent rolling over on his stomach.

Yamcha just grinned. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

Piccolo spat at the ground. "I'm going to kill you right now."

"Stop bei-"

"No." Yamcha placed his hand in front of Kakarot's face. "I really don't care if you die, too. But I know all the things you've done to help out, so I'll let your past mistakes slide."

Kakarot shut up and didn't say anything else. Also quite frankly, Kakarot didn't know if he'd be able to proceed for much longer anyway.

Vegeta just laughed out loud. "Do you truly think you're going to come out and win this?"

"Think?" Yamcha asked with a little snicker. His friendly expression on his face then faltered. A bright white aura surrounded him, his power shooting up through the roof. "No. I know I will."

* * *

Thanks for the read, everyone. Now this chapter was like 99% fighting from start to finish. I had a hell of a time typing all of this and I hope you all had a good time reading yet. I've got the power-levels down below as Jredd specifically requested. Stay tuned for next chapter if you wanna see how this battle comes to an end. Until next time!

Power Levels

Kakarot: 20,000. (Oozaru): 200,000. (Reverted/Weakened): 17,500

Vegeta: 22,500. (Somewhat fatigued): 18,000

Piccolo: 30,000. (Energy used to regenerate): 15,000.

Yamcha: ? ? ?


	32. Extra Help

First and foremost shout out to K47, a guy and TRK (that's what im calling you now) for reviewing. I appreciate it. Also, as for the Namek Saga, it's going to go very differently, perhaps not the type of Saga you'd expect, but it'll be there. I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Vegeta wasn't talking as much now. Here before him was a mere weak earthling that he had never met before. If the scarred earthling fighter was anything like the others he had come across a year ago, then he shouldn't be holding power stronger than that to his. Albeit Vegeta wasn't buying it. Yamcha is just an earthling. And he, a Saiyan warrior.

"Yah !" Vegeta shot off for Yamcha head on.

Yamcha simply stood on his two feet, waiting for Vegeta to near him. Raising his hand in addition to waiting for the perfect moment, Yamcha swatted away Vegeta's attempt at a simple strike. Vegeta continued with a flurry of punches and kicks, yet they only seemed to be connecting to Yamcha's hands and arms.

Vegeta was getting pissed off not being able to touch his target. The Saiyan hopped back and placed the both of his hands out. Yamcha could see Vegeta was readying a ki attack. Yamcha wouldn't just let him fire it off for sure. Yamcha dashed forth for Vegeta and kicked the Saiyan's hand, having Vegeta's unprepared blast fly right out his palm.

"On your side!" Kakarot warned.

Yamcha had already sensed Piccolo coming for him. Quickly moving over to the side, Piccolo's momentum had him flying passed Yamcha. The scarred fighter elbowed Piccolo directly in the back, while simultaneously lifting up his right knee to block a kick to the hip from Vegeta. Quickly lowering his right leg, Yamcha cocked it and kicked Vegeta right in the cheek.

Kakarot was left without any comments. 'D-Did he just...?' Kakarot remembered Yamcha from a long time ago. Back then, Yamcha was nothing compared to him. Yet the man comes back from the dead and surpasses even him in strength. While Piccolo and Vegeta were both respectively weakened, the two were still being played with as if they were nothing.

Piccolo happened to be stumbling forward subsequent to dealing with that elbow. He stayed on his feet and turned around, looking right at Yamcha's back. He fired two quick ki blasts right for him. Yamcha looked out of the corner of his eye and gave Piccolo a little wink prior to vanishing.

Vegeta was coming for Yamcha. Being alerted by two ki attacks coming right for him, Vegeta lifted his arms before his face to block them. Huge clouds of dust appeared as soon as they hit the Saiyan. Piccolo cursed. Yamcha came right from above and planted the palm of his foot he hit Vegeta right in the nape. Vegeta fell over hard on his face, eating dirt.

Yamcha then dashed over for Piccolo, his fists cocked back. Piccolo quickly raised the both of his arms, attempting to block Yamcha. While he was quick enough to prepare himself, it surely wasn't enough to keep him safe. Yamcha just knocked right through Piccolo's defense. Piccolo's arms were high up, leaving his entire midsection open.

Yamcha took advantage and rendered Piccolo countless shots to the gut, over and over again. Each time Piccolo couldn't help but spit up some saliva. Sensing Vegeta coming from behind yet again, Yamcha raised himself directly up, arms spread out side to side. Forming two balls of ki, he increased the distance of all three by sending Piccolo and Vegeta back at the same time.

"H-How?" Kakarot continued to watch over. Seeing how Yamcha was dealing with those two so easily was so far beyond him.

"Kakarot!" Krillin yelled.

Kakarot jerked his head away from the fight, seeing the bald monk coming right for him. Being able to sense more people coming, he looked over to the other side.

Before him appeared both Chaotzu and Tien. "Looks like we're late to the party," Tien commented.

"I started to come as soon as I felt your ki and the other Saiyan's ki," Krillin said. "Now we have Piccolo." Krillin looked over to the battleground, in order to see whatever was going on. He couldn't believe his eyes when he spotted Yamcha handling both Piccolo and Vegeta in such a nonchalant manner. "H-How is Yamcha this strong?"

Tien crossed his arms. "Did you forget? We trained in the other world."

"I can even deal with the both of them," Chaotzu commented.

"Y-You're joking right?" Krillin asked.

Kakarot shook his head. "I believe it." The Saiyan could sense the two holding back a great amount of power, just as Yamcha did when he entered the battle zone. "You have all improved a substantial amount."

"It's probably best we stay out of it," Krillin suggested to Kakarot. "If these guys can really handle them both, we should leave the job to them."

Kakarot winced at the thought. Even though he knew it was the smart decision to stay out of it, this wasn't a battle in where he could simply spectate. He had longed for a good fight. "No." Kakarot's aura flared, his face now one of determination. "I'm going to be the one to help end it." The saiyan took off.

'Fool...' Tien silently cursed in his mind.

"Rah!"

Yamcha was busy blocking away at Piccolo and Vegeta. Being able to sense Kakarot's ki coming near his current area, Yamcha vanished. He appeared high into the dark clouds above and watched from below. Seeing Yamcha had suddenly disappeared, Kakarot came to an immediate stop.

Before him was both Namekian and fellow Saiyan. Piccolo had his eyes set on Kakarot, but Vegeta was battle hungry. And he wanted Kakarot all to himself. "I'm going to end you quickly."

Vegeta stretched his hand out, preventing Piccolo to advance towards Kakarot. "This one's mine. You can go handle the earthling up there." Vegeta didn't remove eye contact at all, steadily studying Kakarot.

Piccolo glanced over at Vegeta. As of now, Piccolo didn't really care about Kakarot. Yamcha was the bigger threat and he was going to try and handle him. "Suit yourself." Piccolo ascended up high into the sky, going for Yamcha. Firing up his aura, he sped for the scarred fighter.

Vegeta had a wild grin on his face. "Now, I finally get you all for myself."

"Tch!" Kakarot's wild purple energy came to light, pinpricks of it being visible.

"Not playing around anymore are we?" Vegeta asked.

Kakarot didn't entertain Vegeta and shot right over for the shorter Saiyan. Without warning, he rendered Vegeta a hard right hook. Vegeta was quick to grab Kakarot's other fist. He returned the favor with a knee to the chin.

From away, Chaotzu, Krillin, and Tien all looked on. "Look at them go," Krillin said.

In the air, Piccolo and Yamcha were going back and forth. It was obvious that Yamcha had the advantage over the Namekian, being able to handle him quite easily. "Was training in the otherworld truly that efficient?" Krillin asked.

"Yes," Tien responded. "That'd make all of us who went the strongest people on earth. Even Kakarot doesn't have anything on us."

Krillin was quiet. On the side of Tien was Chaotzu, the pipsqueak out of them all. To think that even Chaotzu would be capable of ending Piccolo and Vegeta was something he would never think possible. He was truly at a loss for words.

"What's the matter?" Yamcha asked. He ducked under Piccolo and came up with a hard elbow to the face. "You seem to not be able to keep up." Yamcha then proceeded to knee Piccolo in the stomach and follow with an open palm strike to the cheek, sending the green man sideways.

Kakarot and Vegeta were going at it, both practically at a stalemate. The two saiyans weren't either giving up, though. When Vegeta would give Kakarot a hit, Kakarot would do the same-yet harder. Each hit was harder, faster, and more precise than the last. It was getting to the point of finding out who'd give up first.

Kakarot let Vegeta's arm go under his armpit. Using his arm, he locked in Vegeta's fist so the Saiyan wouldn't be able to get free. Kakarot repeatedly punched Vegeta in the face, over and over again at the same spot. Vegeta was getting the snot and blood knocked out of him, his face looking worse after each hit.

Getting enough, Vegeta used his other hand and sent a liver shot right for Kakarot. Said Saiyan came to an immediate stop, having to absorb that big blow. Vegeta chuckled and used his elbow to send a kidney shot as well. Kakarot doubled over, spitting out dark red blood. As Kakarot's head started to lower, Vegeta used his forehead and smashed it into Kakarot's face.

Finally, being released, Vegeta had the full advantage. As Kakarot started to go backward, Vegeta took the initiative and blasted the Saiyan dead on. Kakarot was sent flying down into the rocks below, his skin getting torn and bruised up.

Kakarot growled, blood making a thin line from his mouth and onto the ground. Looking around, he faced Vegeta. "You're dead!" Slowly, Kakarot could feel the rage he once had as a youngster began to rise. Seeing this battle was to the death, there was nothing more to hold back.

"Yah!" Vegeta unleashed a fury of ki attacks right for him. They were all going back to back, not slowing down one bit. Kakarot yelled at the top of his lungs, forming a barrier to surround him. All of the attacks all exploded at once as they hit the barrier.

Kakarot put a great strain on his body, having to use a lot of his ki to make a sizable energy shield. Once the sphere barrier disappeared, Kakarot lowered himself a little. Vegeta came down hard, clocking Kakarot right into the face.

Kakarot went over sliding hard on the ground. "H-He's in trouble!" Krillin exclaimed. He looked over and up above. "Maybe Yamcha can help."

Tien shook his head. "Yamcha's busy dealing with Piccolo." He could see Piccolo trying as hard as he could, only to be rocked by Yamcha numerous times. The Namekian was growing tired and it was influencing his bad level of fighting greatly.

Vegeta stood up and over Kakarot. He was breathing heavily, blood all over his face. He spat over by his side, eyes still on the fallen Kakarot. "Your end has come." Vegeta stretched his hands out, aiming it solely for Kakarot himself.

Kakarot stood up on one knee and shot forth a ball of energy. Vegeta was too slow to react and forced over on his back. Kakarot slowly got back up on his two feet. He still had his fists balled, even though his stature signaled he wouldn't be able to go on for much longer.

Vegeta got back up as well, standing just a few yards across Kakarot. Staring into the lower-class' face made Vegeta scowl. They both had a deep grudge for one another and had their respective reasons for it as well.

Vegeta, an opportunistic traitor willing to kill his own kind if it was necessary in order to achieve his own goals. At least, that was how Kakarot viewed him.

Kakarot, a Saiyan of lower status that grew strong enough to humiliate the one person who was meant to be a god amongst Saiyans. And this was how Vegeta viewed Kakarot.

"RAH!"

Kakarot and Vegeta had their bloodied fists cocked back. Coming at one another at the same time, both Saiyans rendered one another a near bone-crushing blow; the blows hard enough to knock one another out, the two Saiyans flew over onto their backs due to impact.

The two made a big line on the ground, it being they slid hard and fast. "Now it's a matter of who gets up first," Chaotzu noted.

"Yeah, while they're doing that..." Tien looked off to the fight taking place above.

Piccolo was looking around, his face full of suspense and slight worry. Yet has he been able to land one lick on Yamcha and he had been struck well over a dozen times. All of the hits being hard and having taken a little out of him.

"Gotcha!" Yamcha came down from above. Grabbing Piccolo by his antenna, Yamcha executed a flip as he had a tight hold of Piccolo's tiny feelers. Using his momentum, he slung Piccolo ahead. As the Namekian flew, Yamcha formed a ball of ki in his hand as he held the wrist that charged the energy. "Sokidan!" Yamcha placed it behind his head. "Prepare yourself."

Piccolo's eyes widened. "This is going to hurt...!"

"Yah!" Yamcha launched it forth. The moment the attack took off, Yamcha remained still, keeping his two fingers out. Piccolo knew he wasn't going to be able to dodge this and just had to take it like a man. The first hit from the raging ball of heat grazed him by the face. Yet the pressure was hard enough to have him doing a 180-degree spin in mid-air. His back was to Yamcha and his face was to the ball of ki across from him.

Turning around, the ball of ki was coming back for Piccolo again. He had taken another hit, this time it being right in the face. Not able to control himself, Piccolo started to flip countless times. This went on for a little while. Yamcha was grinning the whole time, directing his ball of ki to strike his opponent wherever he wished.

The attack was sending little burns across Piccolo's body, tearing large chunks of his gi. But not to mention the impact of the hit would send his bells ringing everytime. Piccolo's mind was no longer in the right place and this would definitely be of no help into following Yamcha's next move.

It was hovering a few ten yards above Piccolo. The whole time Yamcha kept his eyes trained on the green man trying to retain his own balance. Once he noticed Piccolo was beginning to slow down, Yamcha directed his fingers down.

Piccolo looked up above, his black eyes being completely covered with bright yellow ones thanks to Yamcha's incoming attack. He was hit smack dab in the middle of the face, being sent right into the ground below. Once Piccolo's back hit hard on the ground, a major explosion followed.

"Holy Shit!" Krillin yelped. At the current moment, he was having a hard time figuring out if Piccolo was even able to survive such an attack. There was an enormous gaping hole now present. Nobody coming out of it, it was obvious that Piccolo was still inside.

Yamcha then proceeded to cup his hands. "Alright! Time to end this one!" He started to charge a blue sphere in his cupped hands. "Kame...Hame..." It began to grow as Yamcha poured more ki into the focal point of his hands. "Ha!" He launched it forth.

Piccolo was lying on his back in the hole below. He was standing on a long piece of narrow rock, surrounded by nothing but darkness. From below he could see a blue light beginning to make its way towards him. Piccolo, using the strength of what he had sent away a small ball of ki.

It did absolutely nothing and made its way to him still. The entire black hole below was filled up with nothing but blue light before it finally erupted into one grand explosion. Chaotzu and Tien had to shield their eyes from the sight.

Kakarot and Vegeta's bodies both slided off a bit due to the shockwave. Each of them was now finding it extremely difficult to lift themselves off the ground.

"How can you know you didn't kill him?" Krillin asked.

Yamcha cracked his neck. "I held back just enough. But I know for sure he won't be able to get up anytime soon."

"A-amazing!"

"Since you're here, where is Lazuli?" Tien asked.

"I told her to stay back and watch the kids," Krillin responded.

"You're turning a fighter into a housewife?" Chaotzu asked.

"Now's not the time for jokes," Tien told his little friend. "That's good," he said now talking to Krillin. "I hope they're safe."

"With Lazuli there, I know they are."

Below, Vegeta was shaking to just get up. His hands were pressed against the ground and he was doing his best in using upper body strength to lift himself. With a great bit of force, Vegeta managed to get himself on one knee. Even with all of that effort, Vegeta was panting, trying his best to get all the breath he could.

Behind him, Kakarot was having as much a hard time getting his legs into the position for him to get up. He was still on his stomach. Vegeta chuckled, slowly getting up. "Fool...if you had armor this entire battle, you may be able to stand now." He started walking for Kakarot. Vegeta had got there just as slow as a turtle by the way he was moving, due to walking with a limp.

Kakarot looked back at Vegeta, seeing the Saiyan was nearing him. Vegeta growled and stomped on Kakarot's ankle, preventing him from any type of movement at all. "Here in this situation nearly nude without any will to fight." Vegeta laughed at the thought. "What a way to go out." He started to lift his hand for Kakarot's head. "Like the low trash scum you are."

"Dodon-Pa!"

"Hm?" Vegeta looked off to his left. Seeing a thin yellow beam making its way to pierce through his face, he hopped back. The beam passed him and Kakarot both.

Yamcha just only happened to spot it hitting the ground, causing a mini explosion. "You're going in, Tien?"

Tien just hovered in the sky, smirking to himself. "Nah."

"I got this!" Chaotzu said, descending down below.

"W-wait! Chaotzu!?" Yamcha knew that Chaotzu would be able to manage Vegeta, especially in the current state he was in. Though he never expected the guy to actually fight.

"Yes...Chaotzu." Tien said.

Krillin didn't even say anything. He didn't even know if he was to be surprised or not. The impossible has happened many times in his life.

Vegeta watched as the little guy smaller than even Krillin started to make way below. Vegeta was starting to shake in frustration. "What kind of fucking joke is this?" The Saiyan was growling at him. "You send in the picayune to handle me? Is this some sort of damn mockery?!"

"No." Chaotzu said as his small feet touched down. He was looking up high at Vegeta. "I'm going to end this."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Vegeta aimed his punch for Chaotzu.

Chaotzu quickly raised up his hand, in order to block the attack. Vegeta was left speechless. Chaotzu stared at him with this blank expression. There was no emotion. The only thing Vegeta could see was that this guy wasn't showing any effort. And that pissed him off.

Vegeta started punching down at Chaotzu a hundred times more. Chaotzu was quick, using his little bitty hands to smack away at Vegeta's weak punches. Going faster, Chaotzu was still making him seem like child's play.

"Grahh!" Vegeta interlocked his hands, getting ready to smash it onto Chaotzu's head.

Chaotzu leaned in closer on Vegeta and hopped off the ground. In the process, he missed Vegeta's attempt at an attack and headbutted Vegeta directly in the face. Vegeta stumbled back, covering up his bruised nose.

The Saiyan was biting his lip, the pain being given from Chaotzu being a bit too much. "Y-you bastard!" Vegeta charged ki in his hand. "Time to die."

Chaotzu punched Vegeta across the face, sending the Saiyan to fall down over on his side. Vegeta then rose back up immediately. "That is it! I have had it!" He yelled up into the air, unleashing all of his remaining power. His purple aura was explosive.

Yet Chaotzu just stood there, not even worried. Vegeta was furious. The Saiyan had the entire ground shaking, the dark clouds in the sky all began to disappear. The moon shone brightly down below, Vegeta being the spotlight.

"RAHHHH!"

Chaotzu glanced over to Tien. Tien merely nodded. Chaotzu then looked back over to Vegeta, who was still powering up. As he stood still, Chaotzu balled his little fists. The little guy was going to fight for real now. Bright red fumes began to emit from his body. "Hm..."

Vegeta stopped powering up, though still livid. The Saiyan placed his hands together, charging a good amount of ki.

"Kaio-Ken!" Chaotzu yelled aloud. Instantly, his white aura turned 100% red. His power now doubled, he dashed over right for Vegeta. With one hard punch across the face, Vegeta started to fall over.

Chaotzu hopped off the ground and rendered Vegeta a double leg chest kick. Vegeta fell over on his back, the wind being knocked out of him. Going to look ahead, Vegeta lifted up his face. What he wasn't prepared for was Chaotzu coming right at him.

Chaotzu gave Vegeta a good one across the face prior to sending off many more little hard, rapid fists of fire at his face. Chaotzu was in mid-air as he did this. Vegeta's butt was sliding against the ground as Chaotzu's power continued to knock him back.

This went on until Vegeta's back touched up against a mountain. Chaotzu stopped hitting the Saiyan. Vegeta sat there dizzy. Quickly touching the ground, Chaotzu did a little bounce and kicked Vegeta right against the stomach.

Vegeta's back formed a crack in the mountain from the kick, the back of his head also hitting it hard. Chaotzu stood there in Vegeta's face. He stood his palms out, forming energy. While the Saiyan was practically seeing stars, he could see Chaotzu generating ki for him. 'I-I'm dead...'

"Yah!" Chaotzu shouted full force, his ki attack sending Vegeta through the mountain and away for hundreds of yards, knocking through many other objects, too. From afar, he could see Vegeta skidding along the ground, before finally landing hard on his bloodied face.

The Saiyan lied there, breathing heavily. After all of that, he surely needed his rest. He could barely open his eyes. His hands and arms were twitching. Chaotzu was making way towards his location, hovering mere centimeters off the ground. He could feel his ki.

Vegeta managed to turn himself around on his back. Sticking his hand out, the Saiyan was trying to charge ki. The moment he made an effort and sending the attack off, all it did was flicker like a dying light bulb prior to finally going out.

Vegeta cursed under his breath. Chaotzu stuck out his index finger. No longer was his Kaio-Ken visible. He nearly broke a sweat using the technique, but he wasn't worried. Vegeta was now totally powerless to defend himself. "Good-bye."

Kakarot could see just well enough what was going on from afar. "N-NO!" he barked.

"Ah?" Chaotzu, hearing Kakarot yell turned around. "Why not?"

Kakarot growled and pushed himself up to the ground. Walking his way towards Chaotzu, he stumbled every time his foot took a step forward. "B-Because..." Kakarot made his way closer. "I-I want-no I need to defeat him with my own power!"

"Y-You're joking!" Yamcha yelled from above.

"N-No. Don't listen to him!" Krillin yelled. "Kill him, Chaotzu!"

Kakarot was truly serious. "I won't let you kill him. That...that is my duty!" The Saiyan fell over flat on his face. Kakarot had passed out and was totally unconscious.

* * *

Breathing. Breathing heavily. The cool breeze of the dark night passed the soft skin of Ox as he flew in the sky. The boy was flying as fast as he could from his home. On his back was Dedana, who decided to go along with him.

The little boy wasn't able to sense his father's ki much. While the constant shooting of it suddenly woke him, the moment he felt it plummet, he had no choice but to get there as fast as he could.

As Ox was approaching the area, he could see something fly off into the sky. It was as if the thing was a bright star. Looking over to his left, he spotted someone else. The Ki being familiar to him, Ox immediately knew who it was. 'Piccolo...' Using his advanced sight, he could see Piccolo was tearing down from head to toe.

Ox quickly shot down into the current battlefield. His eyes were wide. So many destroyed mountains and holes all throughout the area. "Guys!" Dedana yelled from up above, waving her hand side to side.

Krillin and Tien were both by Kakarot's side. "What happened?" Ox said. As soon as he landed he ran over to his father's aid.

"Pretty bad fight," Krillin said.

"To put it simply...Vegeta came back," Tien said.

Ox didn't know what to say. "I-I could have helped."

"No worries. He's been dealt with."

"Yeah," Yamcha said coming from above.

"Is he finally dead?" Dedana questioned.

All of them shook their head. "He might die on his trip away. But we let him escape this time."

"Why would you do that?" Ox nearly yelled. "He could come back and k-"

"It's because your father wanted it like that," Tien told the boy. "He has stated he wanted to kill the man himself."

"Which is stupid," Yamcha commented. "I would have ended him right then and there."

"I would have done it if you didn't convince me not to," Chaotzu said, looking over to Tien.

"While it is a foolish thing to do, I understand perfectly." Tien looked down onto Kakarot. "He comes from a race of warriors. And if I know there is one thing about being a warrior, it is pride. It takes on a tradition that one must be able to defeat their opponents using their own power. It's to prove their worth-no-their strength. It boosts the ego. It makes one proud of one's self."

"That would explain it," Krillin said.

"Does anyone have any senzus?" Ox asked. "I'm all out."

"I don't," Krillin said.

"None," Tien and Chaotzu said.

Yamcha just shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, little dude."

Ox just sighed. "It's okay." The boy went on to pick his father up. "He won't be dead tomorrow so he'll be fine, I guess."

"He sure as hell is gonna be sore," Tien commented.

"Now ain't that the truth," Yamcha chuckled.

"Thank you," Ox said. He and Dedana took off into the sky so they could get back home with Kakarot.

Tien sighed. "That damned Kakarot."

Krillin wiped away some sweat of relief. "He's going to be the death of us someday, I swear."

"You know if he comes back next time, we have to be ready." Tien clenched his fists. "He came back stronger than before. We can't allow ourselves to get complacent." They all nodded in agreement.

Though, none of them were aware of the fact of Vegeta's current goals. The Saiyan was in his space pod, using the life support system to ensure his survival on the way back. 'Dragon Balls...Namekian. Wishes...' Even though it was a weak one, Vegeta smirked.

He had found his new goal.

* * *

Power Levels

Kakarot: (fighting Vegeta/Energy depleting): 8,800. (Out of commission/Severely weakened): 10.

Piccolo: 15,000

Chaotzu: 10,000. (Kaio-Ken): 20,000

Vegeta: 18,000. (Energy depleting): 9,000 (Severely injured/weakened): 2,000

Yamcha: 30,000


	33. A Light Time of Peace

Thanks, Kara! I had to find a proper name that fits me ;). Also shoutout to TRK02. I appreciate it man. As for the review from a guy...I will assert that by the end of this chapter

enjoy!

* * *

Everything that had taken place last night ended quickly. One major fight that had put the entire planet in danger was only known of by very few people. That night had past and it was now morning.

Outside the birds were chirping and the bright rays of the sun shone on all buildings of West City. The home of Bulma Briefs wasn't empty, though. In fact, people were up early and getting their days started.

Panchy-Mrs. Briefs, was inside the kitchen making up some french toasts with some hot, warm tea. Just outside of the house, Mr. Briefs was over attending to the many animals he had. Where he was at, it was almost as if it was a zoo. He would accompany the animals for a short while and feed them briefly before going about with his day.

In the living room, Bulma sat on the couch. Up just before her was Yamcha, who had recently just entered the house. "I've missed you, Bulma."

"Yeah..." Bulma had the outside of her lips go into her mouth. It had been weird seeing her boyfriend dead the way he was approximately a year ago and now here he was, live and healthier than ever. "So, what's it like up in the world of the dead?"

"Heh." Yamcha rubbed the top of his head. "Not too bad. Well, at least where I was. I got to train and I felt more energized than normal. It was pretty fun with company."

"That's cool," Bulma said. "I'm glad you're back." Even though Bulma wasn't lying, it was noted through her tone of voice that she didn't appear very enthusiastic that Yamcha was back.

Yamcha then smiled. "So we can now get back to where we started." He sat down on the couch, right next to the young woman.

Having Yamcha so close to her made Bulma feel slightly uncomfortable. Just reacting to her basic feelings, Bulma distanced herself by sliding over to the end of the couch. "About that, Yamcha..."

Yamcha had his head cocked to the side. He could tell by the look on her face that something was up. "What is it, babe? You can tell me, you know."

"That's the thing. We're not babes anymore." She didn't bother to look at Yamcha, hoping that he'd get the message. But with the lack of speech coming from Bulma, she felt that she had to be direct with what she was saying. "It's over."

Yamcha looked at Bulma as if he had been hit with a double whammy. Out of all the things coming out of her mouth, this was the least expected. He didn't know what to say. "I know about some of your little flings. Imagine my surprise when I go to your house to keep it neat and tidy and I find one of your friends looking for you."

"They probably were," Yamcha said. "You do know I have a lot of acquaintances."

"What type of friend comes over to your house with nothing but a jacket on with high heels and stockings?" Nothing more needed to be specified after that. The look Yamcha gave off on his face had shown it all. Bulma shook her head and simply crossed her arms. "I get it, Yamcha. A lot of guys your age aren't just capable of staying committed."

"I...I'm sorry."

Bulma shrugged her shoulders. "What can you do now?" She stood up. "I have to finish off some work that Kakarot's son left for me. You can find your way out the door." Not looking back once, Bulma walked off. Though the woman was definitely upset at the moment, she still had business to tend to.

After having one of the, if not, the most glorious night of his life, everything just went down the drain. Yamcha got up and left the house, exiting out with a walk of shame.

It surely wasn't a way to start the morning.

On the other side of things, Kakarot found himself just waking back up. As soon as he got home subsequent to his battle with Vegeta, he sat in a cold tub for a few hours before falling off asleep. While not as well rested in the morning as he would usually be, the Saiyan was far too accustomed to waking up a few minutes after the sun was shining out as bright as it could.

Kakarot was ready to get on with his day. One simple movement to start his day and Kakarot winced. The Saiyan looked down to his feet under the covers. He could feel his lower body start to throb in pain.

Yep. He was sore.

But he fought through it. In the middle of getting up, Kakarot could feel everything start to attack him. Still, he managed to put on a simple White T-Shirt and some khaki pants. Across from his bed, Kakarot had a large mirror placed up against the wall.

The Saiyan took a quick look at himself and found something off. Starting to look all over, he was hoping to find what was wrong. Then, he frowned. 'That's right.' Kakarot gave off a weak chuckle. He remembered those moments Vegeta had cut off his tail. 'It's gone.' He then shrugged and left the door.

Simply walking felt like a chore. Every few steps in the morning, Kakarot would just suddenly look like he was falling. This was mainly due because his leg felt like cooked noodles and he just couldn't control it giving out on him sporadically.

Once in the kitchen, he could see Chi-Chi getting ready to make breakfast. "Mornin'," Kakarot said, entering the kitchen. Chi-Chi smiled at Kakarot before she went off to place more ingredients down on the counter so she could get ready to start the actual cooking. The Saiyan went up behind Chi-Chi and gave her smack on the ass. "What you making?"

Chi-Chi had jumped, not expecting a tap on the behind. She already knew who it was and gave her husband a coquettish smile. "Steamed rice and fish..."

Kakarot felt his stomach rumble at the mere thought of such a meal to start the day. "That's good."

"Kakarot..." Chi-Chi turned around. "Something has been bothering me lately." Ever since Chi-Chi had got back, she had this weird feeling. She wasn't able to keep it in anymore and needed to voice her thoughts.

Kakarot took a little step back, his eyes still on his wife. "What is it."

"To know that you have a female slave here is something I find unsettling." Just thinking about a person such as Dedana, she could only wonder what she and Kakarot had done in their time alone. She wasn't able to oversee the world of the living as she was dead, so she truthfully had no idea what he was up to.

"I figured it would," Kakarot responded. The thought never occurred to him, but it wasn't surprising at all.

"But she has been taking care of you and Ox." Chi-Chi then smiled. "I have to thank her for dealing with such a burden." She honestly didn't want to delve far too deep on about this woman. She figured she had spoken enough anyhow, nor was she up for causing problems within the household.

Kakarot chuckled in response. "I can't wait to munch down on what you've got going on."

"Well, be patient." Chi-Chi had got out the equipment needed to cook the food. "It won't be too long."

Kakarot licked his lips. "Yummy."

Piccolo himself resided on a small island, where the Tenkaichi Budokai was usually held. He looked over the hundreds of people traveling around, heading off to places. The Namekian had many things going through his mind as he stood atop the single tallest mountain on Papaya Island.

He remembered at one point hundreds of years ago this very island was at the tip of his thumb. He had the entire world under his own rule. And then, once a random old man came into the picture, everything came downhill. With his reincarnation, he had hopes that'd he take care of things, but things only managed to get worse.

Multiple times he has gone on and tried to commit with his own threats of taking over the world once more, but has failed. Now seeing how much stronger and capable the earthlings were, Piccolo was beginning to not see the point anymore. He could easily wipe the city out, but that'd give him more problems than he'd want.

At this point in time, Piccolo was really stuck.

Down below, much noise was being made out in the streets of the small city. Traffic was being held up due to the event and police were all out. On the sidewalk, a lot of noise was currently being made in the area.

Inside the jewelry store, the short and stocky man held a kid hostage, his gun pointed at all the people inside. The many individuals all crouched down in a panic, hoping that they wouldn't get harmed. On his back, he had a huge sack of money. Now, all he needed to do was make it out alive.

"Police!" one of the men spoke over the microphone. "Release the child!"

The man looked at the scared little girl in his arms. He had his gun ready, too. The only thing holding the officers back from filling him up with bullets was because of the innocent kid's life being involved. The man just chuckled. "What are you gonna do?" He aimed his gun at them.

"DOWN NOW!" Many of the policemen just wanted to start shooting, but the little girl was well in the back of their head.

Bullets were sent flying at the many police cars surrounding them. Fortunately, nobody was hit, but he made sure in sending a message. "Here is how this is going to go: you're going to let me go with the money and in return, the kid doesn't get killed."

"How about you let go of my daughter!?" A man came running from outside the store. He ran as quick as his legs could carry him, hoping to take on this threat by surprise.

The assailant turned around, seeing a well built man brave enough to make way towards him. 'Shit.' He pushed the little girl away from him in order to deal with this opposer.

Seeing an opening, one of the police officers were on their way to taking the shot.

"Hold your fire!" the man in charge ordered. The other policemen all came to an immediate stop, all of them mere seconds away from shooting the criminal in the back. While they were confused on why the captain would call out such an order, they all obeyed.

The man coming for his daughter managed to tackle the threat onto the ground. Though as they were falling, a bang went off. The girl jumped back once she heard the bang. The two hit hard against the concrete.

As they were on the ground, the policemen were left wondering which out of the two had got hit. It was total silence, even the crowd watching were all quiet, the only sounds being made were some gasps.

Though the worried father rolled over off the man, his arms out and blood leaking from him. The criminal quickly got up and placed the gun right at the little girl's temple. As she was stuck in place, seeing her father bleeding out, she didn't even notice the gun ready to take her out as well.

Quickly, he looked over to the cops. He could tell they were all trigger happy now. "If I'm going, so is this little girl." He got ready to pull the trigger.

Though, his finger came to a stop. The policemen were waiting, all on the edge of their toes. The criminal seemed as if he was going to follow through with taking out the innocent little girl, too. But suddenly, he fell over on the ground.

"W-what the hell happened?" asked one of the policemen.

One of the people in the crowd was just then looking around, for something and anything. Far as she could tell, the policemen sure as hell weren't one of the people to take down the criminal. It couldn't have been the police since she didn't hear the bang of a gun. "Look up there!"

Everyone looked up atop the same place that was getting robbed. There they could all see an abnormal green figure wearing a cloak that blew in the direction of the wind.

"He just saved that little girl's life!" one of the people yelled.

"No-" Piccolo started.

"He's a savior!" someone else exclaimed.

Piccolo growled. The man had literally no intentions of trying to save the girl's life-none at all. In fact, Piccolo felt as if he needed to kill someone. Usually killing a random person on the street would be considered a crime and Piccolo would be apprehended for it. All he did was use the criminal as a scapegoat for his actions to be justified.

"What is your name?!" One of the policemen asked through the megaphone.

Piccolo knew better than to tell the truth. His name has been known in many tales and his name can't help but be stuck with anything but pure evil. Even if he saved a little girl, people would go on the atrocities he had committed before. "The name is Majunior," Piccolo replied. And in a sense, he wasn't lying. He had used the name before in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and managed to get away with it.

"Majunior!" the people began to chant.

Piccolo found himself getting highly uncomfortable with people now praising him as if he was some angelic savior. Wanting to avoid this, Piccolo was getting ready to be on his way. Though, before he could make his leave, he got a good look at the little girl he had saved.

She had black hair and a long ponytail. Her big, round blue eyes were making eye contact with Piccolo just seconds before he left. All she needed was one look and she knew she wouldn't forget that face. Though she was interrupted by her thoughts once the authorities all came towards her and placed her in a safe area.

"Get the amberlamps," one of the policemen said. "The father is still alive. It looks like no vital organs were hit."

Once the little girl was safe and sound, she looked out for the roof that Majunior was.

He was no longer there.

Back inside Capsule Corp, Bulma was going over the Senzus that Ox had given to her. The woman, being smart herself, was yet to figure out how she would be able to make replicas. She had been on the same bean for over a year now. While she got many ingredients from it, she was still missing that one key component that would allow her to make many more different versions.

"Mornin!"

Bulma looked over to see who entered. Seeing it was just Dedana and Ox, a smile came on her face. "Hey, guys!"

"How is it going?" Ox asked, referring to the Senzu beans.

Bulma sighed. "Not good. I've yet to get a lead on anything and it's been months...!"

Ox walked over to Bulma, as did Dedana. The kid looked around on the same counter that Bulma had all her projects on. In little-sealed cups she had many different versions of senzus, some even cut into pieces. Some were of different color and shape because of the testing that was done to them. And each had a label on them all that showed 'Failed' for the subjects.

"This is killing even me," Bulma said, smacking her head into the counter. "I should have known it would have been bad when my dad even told me to not pursue it."

Ox frowned. "My dad still asks me from time to time if it's been done. I've read almost every book and still can't seem to find a solution. I didn't tell him yet because I know he'd be disappointed.."

Dedana cocked her head. "If you guys can't find the last ingredient, why don't you all just go to the source?"

"To the source?" Ox asked. "What do you mean?"

Dedana smirked. "Think about it, kid. There is a person who gives you all these beans, right?" Ox nodded his head in response. "Okay, good. Why don't you all just ask him for the last ingredient? Go to the source and find out for yourselves."

Bulma shook her head. "This is bullshit."

"Huh?" Dedana was a bit confused. "What does bull poo have to do with this?"

Bulma sighed. "No, no. But really, I should have thought of that!" Bulma exclaimed. "It's just that I've always relied on my own ability to solve something that I never really had to go ahead and ask for much help. I just didn't think of anything like that."

"Well, I'm glad I can help!" Dedana smiled.

"So, guess we're going to Korin's tower, guys."

And that is exactly where they all headed to. The three entered into a jet car and began to make way to the tower of the white cat.

And once they were there, it got weird. With Korin was Yajirobe, who was just lazing about. Korin just stared at the three before them, with the same old look on his face that appeared as if he was smiling.

"I take it you guys are still trying to figure out the last ingredient to the senzu beans," Korin brought up.

"Yeah," Dedana shouted out. "Do you think you could help us?"

"Hm." Korin started to caress his whiskers. "But why should I? What are your intentions if I give you the secret ingredient?"

"Because we need to be prepared in case more bad guys come over!" Ox said. "If anyone gets hurt, we'll be ready."

"Right," Bulma said. "You making the beans has helped us many times. And if not for it, you'd be dead with us, too."

Korin smiled a little. "You're all right. Yet, I still don't feel obligated to just give it to you." Korin then raised his paw. "I tell ya what." The cat turned around. After having his back turned against the group for a while, he came back around. "Here." In the pawlm (bdtmss) of his hand, he held a wooden cup that was tightly sealed. "In here is the liquid I use to grow the senzus. I know you all have the other ingredients, but you all really need this last one."

"What is it?" Ox asked.

"Nu-uh!" Korin waved his finger. He had no intentions of telling them just what the last ingredient was yet.

"Why not?" Bulma asked.

"Why are you questioning the man?" Yajirobe asked, finally butting in the conversation. "You should be thankful enough he's giving it to you."

"Nobody asked you, fatass," Bulma replied.

"Must be that time of the month," Yajirobe chuckled.

"Time of the month?" Dedana looked at everyone, confused. Ox didn't know and just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll still take it," Bulma replied, grabbing the sealed bottle out of Korin's hand. "Thank you."

"Hm-hm." Korin nodded his head. He looked behind them, seeing the jet Bulma had just hovering out. "I'll be seeing you later."

All of them got into the vehicle, waving off at Korin. Once inside, the three took off. As they were making their way back, Bulma opened the cap.

"What does it look like?" Ox asked.

"Looks like water," Bulma replied.

"So that was it?" Dedana asked. "Just water."

Bulma chuckled. "No. It couldn't be. Knowing these special beans, this water has to be something special, something not easily able to be obtained by regular people." This had made the woman's day.

Back at Korin's tower, Yajirobe was speaking with Korin. "Why did you just hand over the ingredient to them? They're going to know how to grow them now and they might abuse it!"

Korin chuckled at Yajirobe's point. "You don't get it. That was the entire point. Knowing how they all think, they're bound to presume that there is more to the ingredient than it just being tap water as you humans like to overthink things too much. Also, that was the reason I didn't tell them. I want to see how they're going to use them. Depending on that, then I will make up my mind if I want to tell them or not."

"Hah." Yajirobe was bobbing his head up and down. "That's actually pretty smart."

Korin had a cheeky smirk on his face. The cat wasn't dumber than what he looked and he loved when people underestimated his abilities solely by his appearance. "I know."

In space, Kami was out handling his business. The man was headed over to Planet Namek and he was to be there now in less than 130 hours. He didn't know what to expect, but he was hoping it'd be something good. Being one of their kind, he should be kindly accepted. Albeit, Kami was just anxious all around.

As he traveled, he remained quiet. There was nothing but pure silence as he could hear the engine of the pod he was in run smoothly.

"Kami!"

"Ah?" Kami didn't expect anyone to come and communicate with him telepathically out of the blue, yet he recognized the voice. "King Kai?"

"Yeah, you there?"

"Yes," Kami responded. "What's the matter? Has something bad happened on earth?" Kami couldn't help but think something bad was taking place in his homeworld. He was simply so used to looking over the planet.

"No, nothing too bad," King Kai replied. "But I'm talking to you now because I want to warn you."

"What is it, King Kai?"

"It's about that Saiyan, Vegeta. I have a bad hunch that he'll be heading over to Planet Namek. Now that he knows about the Dragon Balls."

"How does he know about them?" Kami asked.

King Kai sighed. "As soon as you left, Vegeta landed on planet earth. What was a fight between him and Kakarot turned into an all-out brawl between him, Piccolo, and Kakarot! In the middle of the fight Piccolo spoke of the Dragon Balls."

Kami immediately cursed in his head. "I should have stayed."

"No!" King Kai yelled. "No, no, no. The situation on earth is taken care of. Vegeta's gone and Piccolo isn't even doing any bad right now. I am just warning you. I want you to be prepared if anything bad happens on Namek."

"Don't do that," King Kai told Kami. "That'd just make them all panic. It's better you keep hush about it, okay?"

"But why?"

"Because I already have a plan for it. While I'm not one hundred percent sure Vegeta will go to Planet Namek, the moment I see him going in direction of the planet, I will warn the others immediately."

"That sounds fine to me," Kami said. "They stopped Vegeta more than once, so they'll be able to do it again."

"Indeed, Kami. So don't worry too much. I will just need you to stay on Namek until this all blows over. That cool?"

"Of course," Kami said. "I wouldn't leave them for sudden death."

"Good. Well, now that we have all of that out of the way, I'm going to go now. Have a safe trip, Kami."

"Thank you."

"Okay, bye." King Kai cut the telepathic reception between the two.

And this only drew Kami to worry more. While everything was sure to be under control, he just couldn't help it. He got a bad feeling about this. And his premonitions are almost always true.

Without a doubt, Kami would be unable to enter and leave his home just safe and sound.

* * *

a guy1013: You mention that you feel the Saiyans are underpowered, but keep in mind that the first time Vegeta comes to earth here, his beating isn't just as bad compared to the one he got on earth in the canon. With the power-levels from last week's chapter followed the previous' power-levels, Vegeta's Zenkai boosts his power from 18,000 to 22,500. In the last chapter he is weakened, which is why he is back at 18,000. As for Chaotzu, I felt it was reasonable to place him at 10,000 considering that he has always been on the lowest tier of power. Yamcha here is an exception of course as he trained there the longest. As for the Kaio-Ken, their powers are much greater than Goku's 8,000, so they could take a bit more. All Choatzu did in the last chapter was Kaio-Ken times one, so it wasn't that big. Also, Goku only trained at King Kai's for just over 150 days...while these guys have gotten MUCH more time. And Freeza has yet to destroy earth because he hasn't heard anything through the scouters yet.

I post that long wall of text so any other readers that might be confused can get the message, too. I want you guys to understand the best way possible. I also hoped you enjoyed this light chapter. Catch ya'll later.


	34. All Departure

**Thanks k47, TRK02, a guy, and Gaetan23 for the reviews**

For the first time in perhaps forever, Ox and Chi-Chi were the only two people in the same house. The two just got done with lunch and Chi-Chi was inside doing the dishes. Ox was in the living-room, watching t.v.

"Mom get in here!!" Ox yelled. The sudden shout had startled Chi-Chi, causing her to have a plate slip out her hand and into the sink. After hearing a loud clang, Ox poked his head up above the couch. "You good in there?"

"Y-yeah!" Chi-Chi got to quickly picking up the one large chunk of broken glass from the sink. "Ugh." She threw it in the trash can. "Can you wait until I'm done!?"

"No!!" Ox yelled. "Dad's about to show on t.v."

Chi-Chi paused. She had completely forgotten. Both Kakarot and Bulma were both about to appear on t.v. as one, together. She had heard about how hard the two worked together to set the world back in place. And with them being the two main people to help, they were getting all sorts of attention.

"Yeah! Sure." Chi-Chi set down one of the plates. Looking over the sink, she could see that she didn't have much to do. "Heh." The woman shrugged her shoulders. She could get the dishes done later. Some time spent with her son alone was time better off spent

Going into the livingroom, Chi-Chi found herself sitting right next to Ox. Ox had a big smile on his face, still looking ahead at the t.v. "It's going to start in a few minutes." The boy got comfortable and dug into a bowl of popcorn, swinging his feet that were yet to touch the floor.

Chi-Chi felt a little uneasy just sitting next to Ox as she did. They both watched a few commercials for a while, but Chi-Chi found the silence weird. "Ox?"

"Yeah." Ox continued to munch down on his popcorn.

"Do you want to sit on mommy's lap?" Chi-Chi asked. She understood that the question was so sudden and all, but her little boy was still a little boy. Just maybe he'd go for it.

Ox stopped eating. To imagine him sitting on his mother's lap and watching t.v. just felt weird. He used to do it all the time, but the mere thought of it had Ox put off an uncomfortable vibe. And he didn't want to upset her, but sitting on her lap? Nah. "No, I'm good."

Chi-Chi's head tilted a little bit. "You sure? Not like the old times?"

Yet again, there she persisted. Chi-Chi was a very stubborn woman and the only person who was able to handle her perfectly was his dad. Speaking of his dad, Ox could only imagine what Kakarot would think if he ever found out about him sitting on Chi-Chi's lap. He would tell him over and over again that he wasn't a baby anymore and he had to learn to grow up sometime. "Let's just watch the tv, mom."

"Okay." Chi-Chi placed both of her legs on the couch, behind her behind to get relaxed. Digging her hand into the bowl of popcorn, she happily ate a few. She couldn't believe how much Kakarot affected her son in just under a year's time.

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Ox asked.

"Sure!"

Ox had a confident look. "Now check it out. Dedana taught me how to do it." The boy grabbed one popcorn from the bowl. "Here." He made sure Chi-Chi took a good look at it before plucking it up into the air. With mouth open wide, he just waited for a while until he felt the popcorn fall in. "See?" he asked, eating on it.

"Not to burst your bubble honey, but that's not all that compared to your dad."

"Right, because he can juggle entire pterodactyls into his mouth."

The two laughed.

"Here he's about to come on!" Ox exclaimed, pointing at the tv.

"Okay, okay..." Chi-Chi whispered, calming her son down. The two went quiet and began to watch the show.

Before they went on live, Kakarot and Bulma were right at one another's necks. "And I wanted Dedana on as a special guest!" Bulma nearly yelled. She was all in the Saiyan's face, almost growling at him.

Kakarot wasn't as aggressive, but he didn't find her actions quite amusing at the moment. The Saiyan was nearly emotionless. "And I said no," he sternly stated.

Bulma huffed. "Idiot! Do you have any idea how many people would be attracted to Dedana's eccentric attitude? She'd bring in more viewers for the both of us...!"

The two stayed in one another's faces. The people surrounding them both were all quite nervous as to what would happen next. "Oh, dear..." Mr. Briefs sighed in the audience. "If she starts off the show with a bad attitude, then it won't end well."

Panchy giggled and rubbed her husband's arm. The two were in the audience, surrounded by many others who would get to watch live. Some people found it amusing how both Bulma and Kakarot interacted, some others were kind of scared. "She's got this!"

"GOING LIVE IN 3, 2!!" The man showed one finger.

Bulma and Kakarot immediately looked to the cameras, with a smile on the both of their faces. Everyone in the audience was equally blown away at how quick and efficient Bulma and Kakarot managed to change their demeanors for the camera.

They were ready to give off a good show.

Outside in one of the cities, Dedana was out carrying a handful of grocery bags. Ever since Dedana had been on earth, the sun had added a bit of glow to her skin, which was not as pale as it was on her homeworld. And this, of course, only attracted more people to her. As she walked by in her tank top and cut up jean pants, she caught many looks along the way.

And she had quite a nice time rejecting some people, not really interested in any romantic interests. As she was walking on the sidewalk in the big city, something had caught her eye. In the top left of her, she could see a familiar face.

Once she caught the person, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Usually, she would see Kakarot's face on billboards and whatnot, as well as Bulma. But here, the both of them were on live television. Many others that had got on with their day had come to an immediate stop, even some in the road parked their cars just to see what was going on.

Bulma and Kakarot were the two most famous people on the planet and it was made known. Everyone could hear them speaking.

"And so..." the man interviewing the two was somewhat chubby and had brown hair. Everyone could see his bright blue eyes through his circular, crystal clear glasses that he wore, and was definitely known for. "I just want to have the both of you know that this is my first time going on air with my own show and to have the both of you here is going to kick start everything perfectly for all of us!"

All kinds of claps could be heard as Bulma and Kakarot remained with their same old charismatic smiles that the world fell in love with. "Thank you," Bulma said.

"So we need to start with you right away Mr. Kakarot," the interviewer said. "You're aware of the Red Ribbon Army's failed attempt at taking over the world, correct?"

Kakarot nodded in response. "That is indeed true."

"Everyone is dying to know!" The host of the show had his arms out. "Where. Were. You?"

Kakarot nodded and looked over the audience. The man knew well enough that this question would come about sooner or later. Where was he when the Red Ribbon Army was attacking the world?

Kakarot had this in the bag, already prepared for this question. "Why don't you tell them, Bulma?"

Bulma nearly jumped, looking at Kakarot. The first 45 seconds into starting this off and she was thrown immediately under the bus by her partner. While on the inside, she was nervous as hell, she remained stoic on the outside. "Heh. Yeah, of course."

Seeing how Bulma seemed a little lost, Kakarot had no problems with giving her the perfect kickoff for sure. "How we and our families decided to help one another start the planning once everything blew over?" Kakarot inquired, tilting his head slightly.

Bulma gave off a little chuckle and coughed into her fist. "Right! We knew what the Red Ribbon Army was fully capable of and we were already making plans beforehand. This was of course before we knew that King Furry would be an addition as well. Kakarot and I were simply in the background, pulling the strings."

And Kakarot watched as Bulma continued to ramble on. 'She's good...' Bulma was making up total bullshit and she was doing very well at it. Looking at the audience, Kakarot could see that everyone was buying it, even the show host himself.

Dedana was somewhat impressed by this. "I can't believe..." she continued to watch. She herself knew Kakarot was purging her homeworld when the Red Ribbon Army was out and about trying to take over the world. "He might not be a compulsive liar, but he sure is a good one." The woman fixed her shades.

"They both have extremely good chemistry don't they?"

Dedana jumped, turning around. "Uhm, excuse me?" Before her was a person she had never met before, yet for some reason felt familiar to him. "Do I know you?"

"Not really," the man responded. "But I know enough about you." The man continued to speak. "I need you to do a favor for me."

"Me?" Dedana pointed at her chest. The woman lowered her shades. "I watch articles online! I'm not a prostitute!"

"What the hell is a prostitute?"

Dedana shook her head and waved her fingers. "What do you need exactly?" she asked.

"A senzu bean," he responded. "Do you have any on you right now?"

"Eh?" The first question that came to mind was how would he know that the senzus even exist? The only explanation was that this stranger was somehow involved in her social circle. She felt he was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite decipher it with that turban on his head, as well as the cloak he was wearing.

"Trust me," the man said. "It's for good."

"Well...can I at least get a name?" Dedana asked. Maybe he could prove trustworthy.

"The name is Piccolo," the green man responded.

"You look kind of familiar..." Dedana mumbled. She sat her bags down and started to run through her purse. "Got it." Dedana gave Piccolo a little green bean. "You remind me of Kami."

Piccolo scoffed. Not sharing another word with her, he rocketed off into the sky. Before Dedana could even pick up her shades that fell off her face, Piccolo was already dozens of miles away. The woman placed her shades back on, covering her purple colored eyes. She continued to walk on, minding her own business

Piccolo was out traveling in through the skies. He had asked for a senzu from someone that is in alliance with Kakarot. While he didn't like it, Piccolo just did it anyhow. And the best part was that the bean wasn't a thing he required. It was more so a gift.

A little over two weeks had passed since that little incident with the robbery and the man that had taken a shot was hurt greatly.

"Welcome back, Majunior!!" One of the workers at the local hospital of Papaya Island had greeted Piccolo. The lady gave off a wide smile and a wave.

Piccolo ignored the woman and walked passed her. Everyone knew what the weird, green man was there for. People had watched television and practically everyone on Papaya Island knew Majunior. Piccolo walked on through the corridors, the smell of practically everything coming into a mix in this very hospital. But he ignored it.

Inside one of the rooms, the man that happened to get hurt was on his back, just looking up at the ceiling. Aside from him, his little girl was sleeping, her head and arms rested on her father's chest. Seeing the door open, the patient already knew who it was.

"You're back," he told Piccolo. He let out a weak smile. "I didn't think you'd come."

Piccolo left a crack in the door and didn't respond. This was the only the second time, and he wasn't looking forward to putting any type of investments in any humans. Piccolo pulled out a green bean from within his cloak. "This will get you up and running quickly."

"A bean?" he asked. With a few chuckles, the man coughed. "Y-you're kidding right?"

"Open your mouth," Piccolo demanded him.

He was somewhat reluctant to do so. Though looking back at his own current predicament, he figured he didn't have anything to lose. "Why the hell not?" He opened his mouth as wide as a patient does when they're paying a visit to the doctor.

Piccolo let the bean drop into the man's mouth. He watched as he chewed on it for a little bit. Now, the effects didn't take place immediately. As soon as he heard a gulp, Piccolo stared at him.

"Ahhh...!!" He gasped. Everything from his head to his toes was feeling great. It was one of those moments when one would sleep early and wake up well rested. "I...I'm healed." While he wanted to jump up and down, he remembered that his daughter was sleeping. "T-Thank you."

Piccolo didn't know what to say. Hell, he didn't know why he was doing this. "Sure." He started to turn around.

"W-wait...!" he said, but not quite too loud. Piccolo, having heard him, came to a stop. "I need to know why...why would you save me?"

Piccolo wishes he himself had the answers to that question. So in being honest, he just gave off a shrug. "Just because."

"Before you go," he quickly said. "I need a favor from you."

Piccolo turned his head by his shoulder, looking at the fully healed man at the corner of his eyes. "Spit it out."

"Whenever you have time...maybe you can train my daughter to become a fighter? A better one than myself?" He didn't get an immediate answer. "I understand it's weird, but my daughter really looks up to me. She thinks I'm the strongest man in the world and that nobody can beat me." He laughed. "But you and I both know it's not true. I barely managed to fend off some bastard with my own life intact. And I can't have my daughter looking up to someone like that."

Piccolo turned around. "Is that what you really want?" From what he could see, it simply couldn't be true. Why would a kid want to train with a freak like him?

"Yes," the man said. "I can give you my add-"

"Don't worry about it," Piccolo said, facing the exit once again. "Whenever I feel it the best time to get your child for real training lessons, then I'll come on my own time. I know where to find you."

"Thank you," he said.

Piccolo didn't bother stopping this time and just left out. Walking back out passed the corridors, he was beginning to pass up the lady to greet him earlier. She waved at him once more and told him to have a nice day. Piccolo gave her a glare that sent chills right down her spine. Seeing her getting frightened, Piccolo chuckled softly. 'Still got it...'

"Just what the hell happened to you back there?"

Finally, having reached his destination, Vegeta was just exiting the rejuvenation chambers. He came out totally naked and went over to tend to his clothes that was already set up for him. "Same thing that happened last time," Vegeta growled, putting on his blue under clothing. "What the hell do you think?"

Malaka, out of all his years of tending to Vegeta, said Saiyan had never been this hostile to him before. He saw that whatever this topic was, then maybe it was best to remain quiet about it. "Well..." he looked over at Vegeta's damaged armor. It was worse than last time for sure. So Malaka knew that whatever happened, the odds must have definitely been stacked against Vegeta. "out of all this, I do have some good news."

"Good news?" Vegeta scoffed prior to slapping on his battle gloves. "What good news could you possibly come up with at this moment, Malaka? Is there a juicy planet out there that's actually worth my time?"

Malaka shook his head. "By the readings I received while you were healing, it would seem that no planet would prove to actually be worth your time now."

"And just what are you implying?" Vegeta asked, turning around.

"You're now the strongest member under the wing of Lord Freeza...other than the Ginyus."

Vegeta smirked. 'So those bastards Dodoria and Zarbon can't tell me anything anymore, huh?' Vegeta got ready to head for his exit. He didn't have any time to simply stick around and conversate now. Vegeta was walking down the halls, everyone backing away from him out of respect. 'I know one thing. They're surely not going to be able to tell me anything once I gain immortality...!' Vegeta was chuckling internally to himself.

As soon as Vegeta was out the main building, the Saiyan went over to his own space pod. The coordinates were set for Namek and he wasn't going to waste any time.

And on Planet Namek, Kami was actually getting along quite well with his own people. He would go from village to village, speaking to his people about his life on earth. The other Namekians were very friendly and willing to hear out Kami's story.

And now...Kami was face to face with the man to lead his people from extinction: The Grand Elder Guru.

Never before had Kami seen someone so humongous before. But he could tell by the fellow Namekian's look that he was wise beyond his years. "I never thought I'd live to see the day," Guru spoke.

Kami, knowing he had to pay his respects, bowed down. "And it's an honor to meet you, Grand Elder."

Guru had a little smile come across his face. "You may not know, but you are the son of Katas." Kami took a quick glance over to Guru.

"You can stand you know," a fellow Namekian told him, going by the name Nail.

Kami nodded and stood back up on his two feet. "You know my father?"

"Yes, of course," Guru said. "Your father was the most cordial man with the brightest flair of cleverness I had ever met. He did well by sending you off to a distant planet in an effort to save your life when he did."

"I wish I could have met him," Kami mumbled under his breath.

"I realize it must have been very hard," Guru told Kami. "Countless years on a world you felt totally foreign to. At some point I'm sure you simply felt alienated amongst the rest and went your own path."

"Y-yes," Kami said. "That's exactly how I felt."

"And one of the reasons you must have had a tainted heart." Guru sighed a little. "Could that be the reason why you are no longer a whole person?"

Kami was silent. "Y-You can sense it?"

"Come here," Guru told Kami.

Seeing how Guru would not mean any harm, Kami did as was told. The old, yet younger Namekian walked over by Guru and stood there, waiting for what was to come next. Guru softly placed his giant hands atop Kami's head.

Kami simply stood there, not having any idea of what was going on at the moment. Yet then, a sudden bright flash came over him. Guru removed his hand from Kami's head and rested them on his seat. "Now I understand..." Guru gave out a little hum.

"W-What is this feeling?" Kami asked. The Namekian looked around him, for some reason, feeling many times better.

"I just unleashed all the potential I could out of you," Guru said. "In the process, I looked over everything in your life from start to finish. I now understand everything."

Kami was shocked. "Y-you..."

"A small benefit for you will be that your powers are enhanced and your life-span gets increased a little, too," Nail mentioned to Kami.

"And yes, Nail would know," Guru said. "He had his potential unleashed as well."

Kami continued to inspect himself. He could feel his power continuing to rise. While apart of the Dragon Clan, Kami was a very strong Namekian. He could see his dark green skin becoming a tad bit lighter and a few wrinkles straightening out. "I..." His walking cane had fallen down to the ground, as it was no longer needed. It could be seen that he didn't get much much younger, it was enough to where he no longer needed support walking. Not to mention, he felt a great enhancement in power.

"Yet this isn't your full potential still," Guru spoke. Kami looked over at the Grand Elder. "This was only a portion of what you can truly accomplish. If you were to remain as one, then you'd be the most powerful Namekian known to man."

Kami remained silent. "Yet I did it for the greater good."

"And that, I understand," Guru said. "Now, about this Saiyan coming to our world. Is he coming here with bad intentions?"

"Wait, is he actually coming?" Kami asked.

Guru nodded. Using his powers, he had to sense far out into space. "It is faint, but I can feel his presence. With each second, his energy becomes more and more revealed. He shall be here within a six-day period."

"How do you know all of this?" Kami asked.

"Kaio-Sama filled me in," Guru answered.

"A Saiyan?" Nail questioned. "Just how strong might he be, Lord Guru?"

"Strong enough to where even you shouldn't underestimate him." Guru now went on to speak back to Kami. "But I have a feeling that Nail won't be the only help we need."

"Is it a premonition?" Kami questioned.

Guru simply nodded.

"So what do we do?" Nail questioned.

"I'm on it," Kami said. The Namekian closed his eyes.

"Goddammit, Bubbles! Learn to pick up your banana peels! The trash is just in the house!!"

"OOIHHHH!!!" Bubbles stood up like a brave little monkey and beat its chest. "AHAHAHA!!"

"Oh man..." King Kai rubbed his head.

"King Kai!!" Kami yelled.

"Ah?" King Kai's antennas started to twitch. "Kami?"

"I need you to warn Kakarot and the others about Vegeta. He's on the way as we speak and will be here anytime soon!"

"Ah..." King Kai gasped. "Oh man..." King Kai rubbed his head. Focusing, he went to overlook his part of the world. "I forgot to warn them..." he laughed nervously.

"I need you to warn everyone as soon as you can," Kami told King Kai.

"I'm on it!" King Kai fixed his shades and was getting ready to get to work.

And everyone was gathered up in no time. Kakarot, Bulma, Yamcha, Tien, just everyone.

"And that's that..." Lapis said, speaking over to everybody. "Kami is on Namek as we speak and King Kai just got done talking to me."

"So he's making way to Planet Namek?" Bulma asked.

"It's like none of us can catch a break," Krillin said. "Lazuli is back at the house and I have to leave just to help you guys out."

"Nobody asked you to go," Lapis said. "Besides, it's better you stay home with my sister, nieces, and nephews. You've all started a family too early just for you to go off and die."

"Geez, man that's kind of harsh..." Yamcha rubbed his neck.

Lapis crossed his arms. "Listen, I don't have time to play games. None of us know what Vegeta is going to go out to wish for so we need all of you to get ready to jump ship for Namek."

"Well this is perfect timing for you all," Bulma told the lot. "My dad just got done making a few new model ships with the option of adjusting the gravity to your own liking for training. It goes all the way up to 100."

"How many do you have?" Ox asked.

"I only have two ready to go," Bulma said. "My dad is working on another one."

"I got the senzus just in case!" Dedana exclaimed, raising a bag full up high.

"We're going to figure out how much we'll be splitting if we're going to spend the majority of our time training on those machines."

"Who's going?" Bulma asked.

"I will be going," Kakarot said. "My son, too."

"Ahem!!" Chi-Chi coughed into her fists. "Excuse me, but I'm not just going to let you bring our son into space like that! The risk is too much."

Kakarot stared at Chi-Chi for a brief moment. His wife had a stubborn look on her face, showing him that no matter what, Ox simply wasn't leaving.

"He's going," Kakarot said. And that was that. Two simple words and he looked back to Lapis.

The temporary guardian of earth just chuckled. "Who else?"

That's when Yamcha, Chaotzu, and Tien raised their hands as well. "That's five," Puar pointed out.

"I'll be riding with Tien and Chaotzu!" Yamcha called out.

"Then it's settled," Lapis said. "We have no time to waste. The rest of you all go home."

Everyone nodded and did just that. In just a moment's notice, the entire lookout was vacant. And there Lapis was, alone with Popo. "I'm going inside."

Mr. Popo looked down at his feet. The only thing that was going through his mind was the well being of Kami. If anything, he surely hoped that the man was doing well.

Back at Capsule Corp, Kakarot and Ox were both getting ready to take their leave. Bulma with company of her parents, Puar, Dedana, and Oolong was in the background, waving away at Yamcha and the others.

"Kakarot..." Chi-Chi started. Kakarot just looked at her. Chi-Chi noted that the man simply wasn't changing his mind. He was going to go with their son. "Make sure you bring him back alive." Chi-Chi gave Kakarot a playful punch to the cheek.

Kakarot grinned. "I wish I could bring him back 20 years older."

"Shut-up and get the hell on," Chi-Chi joked.

Kakarot laughed. The Saiyan went over with his son and the two had entered the large ship. They all gave a simple wave before they made their departure.

"This is it..." Kakarot said, stretching out.

"What is it?" Ox asked, looking around the giant space they had on the ship.

Kakarot turned around, facing Ox. "We get some time alone...just me and you." Kakarot had a wide smirk on his face. "These are going to be the worst days of training you will ever endure." Kakarot went to the control panel. With a click of a button, the weight of the entire room came at ten times.

Ox fell right over on his face, while Kakarot stood standing up. "I'm not going to wait on you to get up either..."


	35. Trips to Namek

Back at Capsule Corp, Bulma, Chi-Chi, and Dedana all sat in a chair that resided in the kitchen. It was an early morning and the females were each having a cup of tea. "Is it just me or do any of you notice that it's always one thing after another?"

Bulma and Dedana were both thinking about this as Chi-Chi was the one to come out with this question. It didn't take too long for Bulma to answer, though. "Ever since I've met Kakarot, it's been one thing after another."

"Same here," Dedana said, raising her hand.

Chi-Chi snorted. "I can't disagree. But it took longer for me. When I was a girl, I was enamored with Kakarot. Back then I didn't know what type of person he was. I just saw him and thought he was cute. And his personality just made it even worse. After we got married, everything seemed fine. It was like we were going to get to live the perfect life. Though I never liked to fight a lot, I understood. I come from a fighting background myself. When Ox came, it really felt like my fairy tale was coming true."

"But then Raditz came," Bulma said, ending it for Chi-Chi.

Chi-Chi gave a so-so hand gesture. "Something like that. When his alien brother came, Kakarot only told me and Ox that he was going on a business trip."

"Turns out he was on my planet," Dedana said.

"Yeah. But that wasn't when everything started to really go downhill for me. It was when the Red Ribbon Army attacked. And ever since I came back to life, things just haven't felt the same."

Dedana tried to hide away a frown. Once Chi-Chi did come back to life, Dedana was already well acquainted with Kakarot and Ox. And perhaps if Dedana wasn't in their home in the first place, then things could have possibly returned to normal. But she knew with her back, things wouldn't be the same for sure. Was it her fault?

"Everything went bad when they attacked," Bulma said. "So many innocents hurt." In the kitchen, Bulma took a peek out a window that was right over the sink. Outside she could see people passing by on the road, with others walking on the sidewalk like any normal day. "But if not for Kakarot, we wouldn't be thriving the way we are now."

"Have you finally forgave him?" Chi-Chi asked. "I know what happened between you many years ago."

Bulma shrugged her shoulders. "Gohan was a very good man. Even with the little time we spent together, I invested a lot into him. We were really good friends. And Yamcha feels kind of the same way. That's another thing that has kept the two of us close."

"Do you think Kakarot should wish this Gohan back?" Dedana asked. "On Namek, there are Dragon Balls like there are here. So maybe you can ask him that favor. Wish Gohan back to life and have him here where he belongs?"

Bulma looked up to Chi-Chi, who was looking at Dedana. "That's not a bad idea," Chi-Chi said.

Dedana smiled. "I know!"

"We just have to hope everything is going well for them," Bulma said.

"With their training, they should be doing fine," Dedana said. "Kakarot is a beast. And the little guy is very strong, too. Together with a little extra help, they'll all dominate whoever gets in their way."

"I agree with you one hundred percent," Chi-Chi told Dedana. "But even still..." she looked down into her cup of tea. The only very thing going through her mind was her five-year-old boy. He was strong, yet so young. She couldn't imagine anyone or anything trying to beat him to death. Nor did she want to think about it for that matter. "I worry about my little boy."

"Grugh..."

Intense training was transpiring in the big ship that Kakarot and his son were training in. Ox managed to quickly accustom himself to 10 times earth's gravity, yet when Kakarot kicked it up to 20, he simply couldn't deal.

Never having experienced 20 times gravity, Kakarot was having a rather hard time himself. His son was beaten to a near pulp but he was still kicking. Kakarot didn't have many scratches and bruises, but he was nearing exhaustion quicker than normal. Hundreds of drips of sweat remained all around the gravity chamber. It was hot and humid. Seeing how Ox wouldn't be able to go on for much longer, Kakarot went over to turn the gravity back to normal.

Kakarot, as walked towards the control panel, was having a general hard time moving his legs. While laying flat on his stomach, Ox managed to take a glimpse over to his dad. He could see Kakarot was moving at a slow rate, moving his feet forward one step at a time. Once Kakarot made it to the keypad, he pressed a few buttons and managed to return the gravity to normal.

Ox let his face fall right into the floor, releasing heavy breaths. He felt such a heavy burden just be lifted off his shoulders and he had never felt such a relief in his life prior to this very moment. Kakarot managed to stand up all the way, huffing, and puffing.

"A-Are we finally done for the day?" Ox asked.

"The day?" Kakarot stared at the tired out boy. "We have six days until we get to Namek. And before we get there, I want to be able to reach 100 times gravity. And if we go day by day, we will never be able to reach that goal." Looking to his side, Kakarot lied his eyes on the refrigerator they had inside the ship. While food would definitely be nice for him at the moment, he recalled the senzu beans in there. They would not only heal them completely but also fill their stomachs for days at a time. So in being smart, Kakarot took out the sack of senzus that he placed inside a little pouch.

"Here." Kakarot offered Ox a senzu bean from the palm of his hand.

Ox, though bruised and sore all over, managed to get a hold of the bean that his dad was offering him. Placing it in his mouth, he took away at a few bites. As soon as he digested the crushed bean, he felt everything come back to him. It was if he woke up one morning, energized on a full stomach. He got back up on his feet quickly.

"We have enough to last," Kakarot told Ox. "Once we reach 50 times normal gravity, we will simply rest instead of waste the senzu beans. Understood?"

Ox nodded his head in understanding. "Right."

Kakarot went back over to the keypad. He clicked the number 3 and 0. Setting the setting to 30 times earth's normal gravity, he waited until it took effect. And once it hit him, Kakarot nearly fell over flat on his face. He was prepared for this and stay crouched down, his entire body tensed.

Ox fell over on his knees, his other hand on the ground to keep him up. "S-Stay up..." Kakarot said.

And Ox was doing exactly what his father told him. At least the best he possibly could. While it was tough, Ox was well aware that all of this was necessary. The two were practically going through hell with this form of training, but it was going to pay off in the end surely.

Time passed on and on. "Still, no answer. How is it that I am still yet to receive any type of signal coming from Vegeta's scouter?" Freeza had recently just got information on Vegeta's arrival to one of his own planets. And after healing, he simply left. While Freeza wasn't one to really care what his subordinates were up to, Vegeta's current silence worried him a little.

"It's highly likely that he doesn't even have a scouter with him," Zarbon said. "Either that or it is shut off."

Whatever it may be, Freeza simply wasn't buying it anymore. Vegeta had been very quiet for the past year now. Usually, he'd get all types of status updates of Vegeta having a new planet ready for sale. And Freeza knew that being a Saiyan, Vegeta had a desire to pummel something in the ground practically every day. And he knew better than anyone else that Vegeta loved doing so by conquering worlds. And now, Vegeta has been gone all M.I.A. recently. "It can't be just that..." Freeza rubbed his chin.

"Well, sire, we have men tracking down Vegeta's pod right now."

"Is that so?" Freeza asked. "So he is out there somewhere, traveling, correct?"

"Somewhere," Zarbon said. Having gotten a beep from his scouter, Zarbon answered the call. "Yes?" He listened for a little bit. "What could he be heading there for?" He paused once more, listening in.

Freeza was looking at Zarbon, wondering whatever the answer could be. Once Zarbon had cut the reception, Freeza widened his eyes a little bit. "So? What do we have?"

"Turns out that his coordinates are set out for Planet Namek. He has been going in that direction for approximately the past 24 hours now. And it will not be until another five days that he makes his arrival."

"Planet Namek?" Out of all the planets Vegeta could have been going to, he never would have guessed that it'd be that world. "Would you have any idea that he could be attending there for?"

"No," Zarbon said. "Though I do have some news that you may also like to know about." Freeza kept quiet and listened intently, waiting for Zarbon to spill the beans. "While I don't know why we've got the news so late, it turns out that Kiwi's last stop was on Planet Earth. And it just so happens that when he died, Vegeta's pod gave off a signal of him being there as well."

"Aha." Freeza had to hold back some laughter at that. "So that varmint Saiyan taradiddled when I specifically asked him if he knew of the whereabouts of Kiwi. While Kiwi was much an elite warrior like you and Vegeta, he was truly insignificant and did not give off much value to the force anyhow." Freeza then turned around, looking directly through the window of his ship off into space.

"The rivalry between Kiwi and Vegeta is well known. The two could never stand each other the moment you took Vegeta in when he was simply a child. And having them try and work together was a disaster."

"Oh don't remind me," Freeza said. "But now I understand perfectly. Vegeta is on the verge of betraying us."

"While before it would seem far-fetched, I too, am starting to believe it."

"Do you have any idea where Dodoria could be at the moment?"

"I got done talking with him a couple of hours ago. He's on his way to Planet 42. Coming from Planet Busnut."

"Planet Busnut you say?" Freeza paused for a brief moment. "Now if my memory serves me correctly, is that planet not just a few days away from Planet Namek?"

"Ah, you're right! I can contact Dodoria right now and ask him if he could make a u-turn and make way over to Planet Namek to see what Vegeta could possibly be up to."

"Seems like a plan. Do what you have to do."

Zarbon nodded and got right down to it. Getting on his scouter, he went on to reach Dodoria. "...yes? Dodoria? Hm...yes, so you just got done selling the planet. Well listen, I need you to make a change of direction and head over to Planet Namek." Zarbon waited for Dodoria to finish speaking through the scouter. "...based on Lord Freeza's demands of course. Turns out Vegeta has just become a major suspect for subversion. So do you have any idea on how long it will cost you until you are able to reach Planet Namek?" Zarbon nodded his head, adding a few mmm hmm. "Very well." He cut the reception.

"So?" Freeza asked, his back still facing Zarbon.

"Turns out it will take Dodoria 144 hours until he is able to reach arrive at Planet Namek."

"So that means he will be one day later than Vegeta."

"Unfortunately so, sire."

"Hmp. No matter. He is the only person other than us that is closest and most capable of dealing with Vegeta if something were to go south."

"Do you have any ideas why Vegeta could be heading over to Planet Namek?"

"Well, of course for only one thing. I have lived for countless decades Zarbon. And throughout my lifetime, I have heard quite a few rumors about Namek itself. There are some magical elements of the kind or something of that manner that resides there."

"Do you believe it?" Zarbon asked.

"Pfft! Well of course not." Freeza chuckled. "These rumors are just as equal to the Saiyan's legendary Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God. All of it is simply not true, merely a lie made to have a species feel better about themselves. This rumor had set up the entire race to have the Saiyans think something better of them would eventually come up and lead them to glory." Freeza closed his eyes. Chuckling, even more, his shoulders could be seen bouncing up and down. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked over to Zarbon. "...and we know how that ended up."

"...yes."

"Let us hope Dodoria goes smartly about this. I would surely love to know if Vegeta happens to find any neat discoveries, though. If it is good enough, then we might just invade the planet ourselves and sell it off. Tales of the planet has made it somewhat apparent that the world of the Namekians holds a substantial amount of value. If Dodoria could tell us himself, then we shall see about conquering it."

"That sounds like a plan, M'lord."

And now everything was set up. Vegeta thought he would go ahead on Planet Namek, not encountering any types of problems. He, of course, was very secretive about his whereabouts and he truly doubted Freeza cared what he could be up to at the moment. Nor did he even bother to think that the ruler had become even slightly suspicious. The plan was to go to Namek, collect the Dragon Balls and make his wish. It was as simple as that.

Yet he was going to be in for a surprise. And quite a few ones at that.

"So you're telling me that they're all going on some strange world to prevent Vegeta from doing whatever?"

Krillin nodded. But then he kind of backtracked. "No, not really. I don't think Kakarot is actually worried about the people of Namek, but more about Vegeta himself. Twice he has been unable to beat him and he had made it clear that he wants him all to himself. Obviously, for Kakarot, this is the perfect chance to do what he wanted to."

"Hm. That sounds exactly like him," Lazuli said. "This would be the perfect chance for him to do it, huh?"

"Yeah." Krillin rubbed his bald head. "I just feel bad that I'm not able to go, too y'know? I wanna help as well."

Lazuli smacked her lips, rolling her eyes. "Stop being an idiot, Krillin. Even if you went with them, you'd get in their way. All of them, even the boy now is in a different league than you are. That's something you gotta accept."

"Yeah, but I'm so used to working with those guys! Always, you and I were by their sides fighting. Don't you miss that?"

"And don't you think about our kids?" Lazuli asked. "All of them are sleeping in their beds now. Imagine if one of us happened to leave them be and suddenly died. Listen, from now on, we have to set fighting a bit more to the side. It's not just one kid we're worried about, Krillin; but four we have to take care and tend to. Trying to find time to train during a time that they need us the most wouldn't be fair to them."

Krillin nodded his head. He had no way to refute all of his fiance's points, nor was he going to make an attempt at doing so. She was right and they both knew it. "You know, even when I told the guys I was coming to help, Lapis told me to stand down and stay with you and the kids. He was kind of serious, too."

Lazuli just smiled. Placing her hands on Krillin's bald head, she bent over and gave the man a kiss on his cheek. "As you should, Krillin." Turning around, Lazuli started to head up the stairs. "Now come help me with the children, Krillin."

With everything cleared and out of the way, Krillin felt better about this situation. He was sure that Kakarot and the others would handle themselves just fine while on Namek. And while they handled business over there, he would do the same here with his own family. 'So this is exactly what Lapis was telling me when he told me not to go.' Not thinking about it further, Krillin headed up the stairs.

Lapis and Mr. Popo were up and about on the lookout. He looked up at the bright stars shining before him. Every now and then he would catch a bird or two flying up so high in the air. Though it was rare, it was very much a beautiful sight in his eyes.

Looking over to the side, he could see Mr. Popo standing behind him, having just got done with watering his plants. "You're concerned aren't you?"

Mr. Popo was nearing Lapis when he was told that and didn't quite hear him. "Hm?"

"Kami," Lapis said. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

Mr. Popo's eyes moved down onto all the squares that made a circle on the lookout. "Yes."

"Heh." Lapis continued looking into the sky. "You didn't even need to say it. I could tell. Ever since he left, you've been much more silent than usual. And you carry this face that's of the equivalent of a worried mother that lost her child."

"I just wish for nothing bad to happen to him. With that monster Vegeta heading over to earth, Kami knows what could happen."

And even while Mr. Popo was blatantly fretting over the current situation, Lapis still wasn't all that worried. "Even though it may be totally normal for you to be worried-don't be." Lapis turned around to face the genie. "Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Let me give you a couple of reasons. For one, Kami himself already knows about Vegeta being on his way to Planet Namek. And he is a smart man and knows to not even bother trying to get in Vegeta's way. In doing that, it will result in death and he won't be able to return back here, his real home to do what he was meant to do. And two, Kakarot and the others are on their way. Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu have already proven themselves more than capable enough to take on Vegeta. With their training, they're not going to have any problems at all. Especially with Kakarot by their side."

"T-Thank you." Mr. Popo bowed. "I really appreciate you calming me down."

Lapis smirked. "No worries." Having sensed something, he turned around. "Do me a favor and go inside. It seems we have a visitor."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Popo asked. "It's Piccolo."

"Yeah," Lapis answered. "I'm not Kami, so you don't need to be serving me like you do him. I can handle myself for sure. Just head on inside and I'll be with you in a bit."

"Very well." Mr. Popo walked inside the castle.

Lapis just stood there, waiting for his guest to arrive. Once he saw the same green-skinned man wearing a cloak and turban, Lapis put on a smile. "Nice to see you again, Piccolo. Or should I be calling you Majunior now?"

"Hmp." Piccolo crossed his arms. "Where the hell is Kami and Kakarot? I haven't been sensing a good few of you for a while."

"It's kind of a long story," Lapis said. "But let's just say that Kami is going back home for a little while."

"Back home? What are you talking about?"

"Home. Planet Namek. Kami is going back to his origins, where he came from. It just so happens to be that Vegeta is on his way there to up to something."

"He's actually going there...?" While having never given it much thought, Piccolo would ask himself from time to time about his background. He wondered what the people were like and how they acted. Never did he have the desire to meet them, but he realized that Kami would have the chance to experience something he had never done yet.

"You jealous?" Lapis asked teasingly.

"No," Piccolo said. "I'll just have to wait for Kakarot to come back before I beat him a new one."

Lapis just let out another laugh. "Too bad you're going to get your ass kicked then. Kakarot and the others are preparing themselves. All are going to endure training that goes up to one hundred times earth's normal gravity. When they come back, you'll be an insect compared to them. Just like you were before."

Piccolo growled. "You dare mock me?" The green man was getting steadily frustrated with Lapis' attitude. "Keep in mind that you're not Kami. I have no problems killing you while you're here to take his place."

"We're close in strength," Lapis informed Piccolo. "And I have a few tricks up my sleeve. You wouldn't last a chance." Piccolo snorted. He could tell Lapis wasn't bluffing and he was smarter than to try and test the man. "Besides, I've been keeping an eye on you recently. You seem too soft to just outright go ahead and kill me. I didn't know that a demon's hobby consisted of saving little girls and their daddy."

Piccolo spoke at a lower and calmer tone. "I see. I didn't come here for you anyway." Piccolo walked past Lapis.

"You're smart enough to realize that the Room of Spirit and Time is the only way you'll ever be able to keep up with Kakarot and the others. No matter just how strong you may get, I won't stop you though." Lapis stepped off to the side.

Piccolo wasn't going to entertain Lapis and continued walking. The Namekian was furious inside now. He was just being mocked and looked down upon like an insect. Someday they were going to pay for this. Someday. He didn't know exactly when, but he knew he would.

And so, five days traveling through space fly by as if they were nothing.

"Ah..." Vegeta watched as the pod opened, allowing him to exit. The Saiyan had arrived in the middle of nowhere, only able to sense life forms from afar. This planet was the complete upside-down version of Planet Earth. And that planet only brought back embarrassing memories. He let the cool breeze brush off against his skin. He would definitely have fun in it while slaughtering some people.

Nothing seemed to be able to stop him now. At least, from his perspective.


	36. Champion of Namek No More

As soon as Vegeta had landed on the planet, King Kai didn't waste any time in letting Kami know what was going on. He had contacted the man and had a conversation with him. Both Guru and Nail were able to hear about it as well as they communicated with one another.

Once King Kai told Kami of Vegeta's whereabouts, he had cut the reception between the two. Kami was left with Guru and a nervous Nail. Kami looked over at Nail. "You are the strongest warrior Namekian, aren't you?"

Nail knew that the situation at hand was pretty bad. For a Kai to speak on this matter, it had to be drastic. But he made up his mind from the very beginning. "While it may be so, it doesn't mean I'll be leaving Elder Guru's side. I'm his protector. Nothing more, nor anything less."

Kami could tell by the look on his face that Nail was rather serious. And he understood where the man was coming from, too. Much like Nail, Kami had a duty: being the guardian of earth. He wasn't going to put Nail down for that. "Very well, I understand."

"But it doesn't have to be so," Guru told Nail. "He is the only threat to the planet, Nail. You two can fight one another and be done with it." Nail didn't know what to make of the current situation. He wanted to stay just to be alongside Guru. That was what he was meant to do after all. Though at the same time, he knew that a great danger was in his world. "You don't want the fall of our people to start again, do you Nail?"

Nail took a deep breath. He could see where Guru was getting at. There were only so many Namekians on the planet after the cataclysm that had taken place was half a millennium. Approximately 100 Namekians resided on the planet, so there weren't many left. And it'd only take a little while for them to all go extinct.

"Very well. I'll go seek him out."

"Thank you, Nail." Guru sighed and sat deeper in his chair, calming down. With his strongest son out there, Guru felt more secure. It was probable that Nail was to come out the victor.

* * *

Vegeta didn't waste any time and he went on to get his way around. Just a little while of navigating the air and he eventually found one of the few villages of the entire planet. Vegeta wasn't shy and introduced himself to everyone with a wide smile. As he spoke to the locals of the village was very clear about his intentions.

"Where is your leader? I've come to get your Dragon Ball."

All of the Namekians in the village were cleaning their houses and planting some trees so they could grow. It was nothing but a normal day for them. It rarely ever happened that they received strangers in their world. They had never expected it. Though it was all the more surprising that a foreigner would know about a thing such as the Dragon Balls.

"I am the leader." The elder of the village stepped up, holding the walking stick that he used to aid him. "Tell me, why do you want the Dragon Ball?" Just by looking at Vegeta, he wasn't getting much a good vibe from him. He was expecting something bad out of him wanting the Dragon Balls, though he just needed confirmation coming from his mouth.

"Tch! Just give it to me. You have it, don't you?"

Just based on his body language, the elder of the village could tell that this visitor wasn't up to any good. "Leave now! I can't give it to you. I can feel the evil within you!"

Vegeta wasn't going to put up with having to ask them anymore for the Dragon Balls. He just wanted to collect them, get his wish, and get out. He didn't care if they had to give it up willingly or by force. "Then you die."

Nail was flying through the skies of his home planet. He knew all of the villages by heart and was hoping to catch sight of all of them intact. That all went down the drain the very moment he saw one of the area's pillaged and broken down. Many dead bodies were on the ground. Old men and children even.

"No...!" Nail caught the eye of Vegeta and the elder of the village. If he was late, then the elder would be a goner for sure.

Vegeta had done a number on the place in a matter of literal seconds. The elder was down on his knees, holding one of the children's body. "You're shameless! I'll never give it to you!"

Vegeta grinned. "Damn, you're stubborn! Oh well, as you wish." Vegeta stuck his hand out. "I'll just find it myself."

"NO!" Nail came crashing down in the middle of the attack and the elder Namekian. With one swift movement from the moment he had landed, Nail smacked away the wave of ki.

"Huh?" Vegeta watched as his attack was re-directed into the air. He was hoping to get his kill but didn't.

"N-Nail...!" The elder had a major feeling of relief overcome him. Even though he would have never expected Nail to leave his duties in order to save one of them, he sure wasn't complaining.

"Stay back, Sput. "I'll take it from here."

Vegeta scrutinized Nail closely. Judging from the man's body language, he seemed quite confident. But using his own senses, Vegeta was trying to feel out for the Namekian's ki. 'His power...it's much higher than I thought a Namekian would ever have.' He then grinned. "You may wanna get out the way. Wouldn't want to get killed, too."

"We should go elsewhere," Nail said. "I'm not going to fight you with him here."

"Tch! To hell with that old clown. If we're going to fight, we're going to handle things right here."

Nail was hoping to get to an area where the elder wouldn't wind up getting hurt. "Fine." Nail looked over at the elder. "Get as far away from here as you possibly can."

The elder nodded. "Thank you, Nail."

"And warn the others," Nail added. He knew the importance of everyone being self-aware. He waited until the elder made it far away before he could initiate the fight with him and Vegeta. Nail wasn't going to put in any small talk with Vegeta. He threw off the blue vest he had on, letting it fall to the ground behind him.

He crouched down and placed his arms across one another. With a quick movement, his arms came out, a burst of energy flowing from him as well. "ah..." Vegeta didn't consider the fact that this Namekian could have been holding back his power. But by the way it was going up, Vegeta could tell that he wasn't going to have the easiest time. So the Saiyan prepared himself for this battle, raising his guard.

"The moment you attack me is the moment you willing sign your own death wish!"

"Shut the hell up!" Nail hopped from his back foot. "HAAAAAA!"

Vegeta reacted just quick enough to block Nail's attack. He felt as if he was prepared, but the brute force from Nail's attempted karate chop to the neck showed him another thing. Vegeta had a small bead of sweat fall on his cheek.

Nail used his other hand and blasted Vegeta head-on in the chest. Although the blast didn't pierce through his body, the pressure was more than enough to send Vegeta off his feet and backward. Nail pounced from the ground and followed on at the Saiyan, his hands up above his head.

"RAHH!" Nail stretched out his arms, with open palms that let go of two waves of energy.

Vegeta was alerted and backflipped onto his feet. As fast as he possibly could, he hopped into the air, just barely dodging the attacks. 'Shit...!' Vegeta had just barely dodged a bullet on that one. Nail wasn't coming at him with any warm-ups or anything of the like. That was something Vegeta had never gotten quite used to yet: jumping straight into a fight full power.

Nail zipped up above Vegeta, coming back down hard by ramming his fists atop the Saiyan's head. Vegeta crashed down hard onto one knee, forming cracks down into the ground below. Another wave of energy was being launched at him once more. Vegeta got up and quickly bounced back away from the attack.

A loud explosion just transpired right in his face, forcing Vegeta to cover himself with his arms. Still, he sensed out for Nail's ki. Said Namekian was already behind Vegeta. And Vegeta only happened to catch on until it was too late. Nail gave Vegeta a solid kick with the tip of his boot to the hip.

Vegeta went over sliding on his sides, crashing into one of the houses. Nail, on ground level, stuck his hands out and blasted the house Vegeta was in. Once the entire place blew up, Nail was hoping that he managed to do away with the threat. Though of that, he wasn't too sure.

Nail just waited and waited.

Nothing.

He didn't seem to get anything yet and this calmed Nail down. He could tell that the Saiyan wasn't giving it his all from the very beginning, so he took advantage of that and got it over with quickly.

At least he thought.

"If only you knew how to sense ki."

"Huh?"

Vegeta drove his fists into Nail's lower back. And since Nail had his guard down for just a moment, he paid with this dearly. A little bit of saliva flew out of his mouth. Vegeta chuckled and elbowed the Namekian into his upper back. Nail went on stumbling forward, just barely able to maintain his footing.

Vegeta started to run over at the green man. Nail did happen to catch his balance, but he was exaggerating just how bad he was stumbling. He was doing this on purpose in hopes to get Vegeta to drop his guard.

Vegeta waited until he was just a few yards behind Nail. Nail captured this moment and raised his leg, going off to give Vegeta a hard back-kick to the face. Nail was caught by surprise the moment he realized that he had only struck air. Next thing he knew, he was coming down.

Vegeta had performed a slide and tripped Nail up in the process. Once Nail was over on his back, Vegeta quickly swung his legs around into the air, using his back as leverage to lift himself back to his feet. As he did so, he maneuvered himself in motion to stomping directly on Nail's stomach.

Nail grabbed Vegeta's boot and kept him from making a direct hit. It was obvious that the two were struggling. Vegeta growled and removed his foot before going to swing it back and kick Nail in the side.

Nail rolled over, missing Vegeta's foot and getting back up on his knee. Coming right up, Nail blasted Vegeta at point blank range. The Saiyan Vegeta put his arms over his face, blocking the hit.

The ground started to shake once Nail's attack came into contact with Vegeta. Nail remained on his knee, breathing slightly heavier than he normally would. This quick-paced fighting was already making its effect on him. He looked on at the cloud of smoke which was starting to die down.

Vegeta was still standing, even after that had been done to him. Some of his clothes were tattered here and there, but he wasn't all that hurt. He had a smile on his face, chuckling. "You're not too bad for a Namekian."

Nail rose to his feet. "I would say the same for you. But I don't hand out compliments to villainous cretins like yourself."

Vegeta busted out laughing at that comment. "I see that you Namekians are funny people, too!" Vegeta's fits of laughter went down immediately. "You ready for round two?" Vegeta got into his own fighting stance.

Nail did the same thing. 'Now he's getting serious...'

* * *

The elder Namekian had just made it over to one of the villages. There he was warning some of the Namekians about their mishap. Everyone gathered around to listen to him, as well as the elder of that current village.

"Sput..." The locals were nearly speechless. To think of all those lives that had just been lost. From the children to some of the older ones. Moori neared Sput. "Stay here. We'll send one of the others to warn everyone else. This is a dire situation that everyone needs to know about."

Sput nodded, in total agreement with his fellow elder. "Indeed. I just hope that everything goes right."

"So Nail's out there risking his life for us, huh?" A few younger Namekian adults came by.

"Yes," Sput responded. "But it's bad. I wouldn't advise any of you to go there. This man...he wiped out a near entire village in mere seconds. I-it was disastrous!"

The young Namekian warriors didn't know what to think of it. But they knew what their duty was. They were fighters of the planet and they were meant to protect this world if under danger. "Nail is supposed to be by Elder Guru's side," the leader of the three said. "Once we go there, we'll take care of everything."

"No, don't!"

None of them listened and the three took off. They were going to find whomever Nail was fighting against and take care of the problem themselves. In some instances, ignorance is bliss. But in this case, it was the complete contrary. None of the three had any idea just what they were getting themselves mixed up in.

"I-Is it that bad?" Moori asked.

"The fact that Nail is out there...should explain it all in its entirety."

Moori nodded, seeing where Sput was coming from. "I wish I could call them back, but they're too far gone now. They know the deal when they go off to fight an opponent. It's all up to them now."

"Think on the bright side," another Namekian said, showing up. "With their help, Nail just might be able to win this one! I think it's possible that he can do it. Wouldn't you say so?"

Sput wasn't quite sure. Replaying those horrific actions in his head, he wasn't quite certain if anyone would be able to stop Vegeta. The best he could do was hope and that was it. And as he had his glass-half-empty, everyone was trying to convince him to have it half-full.

"Who do you think Nail could be fighting?"

The three Namekians going for Nail had been flying for not too long now. At the speed they were going, they were bound to show up to the area soon enough.

The one leading the three didn't respond to the question. He had his eyes out and looking, making sure that the area was cool. He understood that the situation was bad and didn't want to lose any focus at all. The other Namekian got the hint and didn't say anything else.

"We're here!"

They all came to a stop. Down a couple dozen feet below was a Namekian and a Saiyan fighting, going at it back and forth. "They look messed up..."

The leader of the crew couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Guys..." from the tone of his voice, they could tell he was beginning to grow worried. "maybe...just maybe...we should head back."

"Rah!" Nail hopped from the ground and launched a giant wave of ki.

Vegeta hopped to the side and fired one of his own back at Nail. Nail moved to the side, just barely dodging the attack. He barely missed it though, Vegeta's ki having grazed his white scarf. The scarf came falling to the ground as it tore.

Nail stepped down and was expecting to see Vegeta attacking him. But to much of his surprise, Vegeta was standing still. "W-What are you doing?"

Vegeta shook his head and gave a grin over to Nail. "Oh, nothing." Behind Nail, Vegeta noted a few Namekians afar away. Yet again Nail's inability to sense ki had caught up with him. Now he was going to have three more bodies on his conscious. Vegeta pointed his finger at Nail.

Nail remained on guard. Whatever Vegeta was to do next he made sure that he was prepared. He did not leave his eyes off Vegeta for even half a second. And as he was expecting him to be attacked, Nail was growing confused as he saw Vegeta motioning his finger upward. 'What is he doing...?'

"This is on you..." Vegeta said with a smirk. Not hesitating for one second, the Saiyan shot off three beams from the tip of his fingers.

"What?" Nail's head jerked around, looking to where Vegeta had fired off that attack. Seeing that three Namekians were hovering in the sky, Nail was alerted. "Get out of the way!"

The three were all greatly alerted and tried their best to do so. Only two of the three managed to get out of the way. The Namekian in the middle had a beam get pierced directly through his chest.

Vegeta laughed and vanished out of sight. "Huh?" Nail looked over to where Vegeta was before. Not seeing the Saiyan in the same spot, Nail was growing nervous for the other two.

"N-No..." They both watched as their fellow comrade fell down to his death.

Vegeta appeared above one of the other two, his fists locked and above his head. "You should worry about yourselves!" Vegeta forced his hands down as hard as he possibly could. The young fighter's skull was crushed the moment Vegeta's hands made contact. He went to falling down much faster than the other Namekian who was dead did.

"Ah..." The last one of the three fired out a ki wave on impulse. He saw the enemy and just fired.

Vegeta was already ready for it and placed his hands out to block. Once the energy of the attack canceled out, Vegeta was generating his own attack. A hole was formed through the small cloud of dust, making its way for the Namekian.

He let out one gasp before it blew a hole through his abdomen. Vegeta laughed as he fell down to the ground dead...just as he did the other three.

Nail stood in the same spot, not able to catch on. It was all simply so sudden and Vegeta was going all out against them, moving so fast and nibble. Nail was pissed. Had he been more prepared, then maybe he could have saved one of them. Seeing Vegeta laughing at their dead corpses lit a fire in him.

"You...!" His muscles were starting to tremble, out of growing anger.

"Hm?" Vegeta looked back over to Nail, almost having forgotten about him. Seeing the Namekian with a livid facial expression, Vegeta could only acknowledge him with a smile. "Oh."

A bright burst of blue energy overcame Nail. "RAHHHHHH!" The beautiful trees of this world all began to grow shaky. Giant rocks would break off the ground, slowly starting to rise up. Nail's intensity could be shown physically. Veins were showing everywhere around his arms and his face. "You won't be forgiven!" Nail continued to power up for a few more moments. He did so until he felt like he could no longer do so when he was at his maximum. And when he felt that he was there. That was it.

Vegeta reacted far too slowly and before he knew it, he was sent soaring through the sky. Vegeta didn't even expect an attack to come by so fast. He wiped the blood from his lip and looked ahead of himself as he continued to fly away. There was no Nail.

Nail came from under Vegeta and mashed his foot into the center of Vegeta's back. "Guagh!" Vegeta spat out saliva forcibly as he was directed upward.

Nail rocketed into the air and flew behind Vegeta for a moment as he flew vertically. He bypassed Vegeta and flew until he was a minimum ten yards away from the Saiyan. And in coming back down, Nail elbowed Vegeta directly in the throat.

Vegeta went on to clutching his windpipe as he was plummetting to the ground. Nail shot back down at Vegeta and clocked the Saiyan in the jaw. The Saiyan flipped over on his two feet before he could land.

Vegeta was out of breath, practically wheezing for air. The Saiyan could feel a burning tingling sensation in his throat, that was paining him deeply. Due to this, he could only receive a small amount of oxygen. Though at the same time, Vegeta looked up into the sky, yet to see nobody. Sensing out for Nail's ki, he could sense the Namekian behind him.

Nail was charging ki in his hands. Vegeta made sure to stay up on guard, but it didn't mean he'd be in time for dodging the attack. "RAHHH!" Nail let loose a cannon of energy. Vegeta was overtaken and sent crashing far away into a mountain.

Nail watched as the rocks tumbled down and fell all over his opponent. Nail was out of breath, sweat trickling down his face. He had poured everything into that single attack and he only hoped that it was enough to take care of The Saiyan. So he waited.

Vegeta sat on his behind as he was surrounded by nothing but rocks. Though almost everything was virtually enclosed with nothing but rock, he could see Nail through a minor hole. Due to taking that amount of energy head-on, Vegeta was somewhat injured by that attack, though he was waiting for the perfect timing. He let himself catch a breath as he generated a small purple energy in the palm of his hands, a glow beginning to light up the dark setting Vegeta sat in.

Nail waited and waited. Yet, he wasn't able to see anything come out. Nail could only come to the conclusion that Vegeta was truly dead. So in seeing this, he turned around. The next thing he was to do was tell Guru and Kami that the threat was gone and they were all safe.

Or so he thought.

BOOM!

Nail turned directly around. As he looked he wasn't able to catch anything. He was hoping to see Vegeta where he last saw his body to end up at, though he wasn't there.

Vegeta had dashed up so suddenly right into the air. He made sure to go as fast as he could. He jetted past Nail high into the sky. Eventually, Vegeta came down and changed directions, heading right for Nail as he chared his signature attack.

Nail, not seeing Vegeta where he was supposed to, was greatly alerted. Hoping he'd see Vegeta in front of him, he turned around. And it was not what he expected. Vegeta was just mere inches away from him. The shorter fighter was crouched down. Nail looked below, seeing Vegeta.

As he was charging his attack, Vegeta stared right into Nail's eyes. Seeing the extreme look of worry plastered on the Namekian's face, Vegeta's wide grin turned into a toothy one. The Saiyan let all of his energy pour out. "GARLIC HO!"

Nail had his guard down. There was no way he would be capable of defending himself against a powerful attack from point blank range. Vegeta's Garlic Ho consumed him completely. Though seemingly not one sound came out of the Namekian, Vegeta's obnoxious laugh was what could have been louder than Nail's short scream of pain.

The Saiyan waited until his attack had died down. It was a bright burst of energy, having poured almost every bit into it. Vegeta had caught Nail at the right moment and he knew it. Although he couldn't see Nail before him, Vegeta had to make sure he was very well dead.

Vegeta tried to sense out for Nail's ki, but couldn't. Either he was dead or he was going to die soon. Vegeta had a triumphant smirk. And going through all of this, he found it hilarious. The Saiyan started to chuckle. "You should not have tested me. I am a Saiyan warrior and you're just Namekian trash! There was no way you'd amount up to me from the start." Finding this amusing, Vegeta cocked his head back and started to laugh hysterically. "Fool! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHAHA!"

"...Don't count me out yet...!"

"Hhahaha-Eh?" Vegeta froze.

Nail was directly behind Vegeta. The Namekian looked truly messed up. His clothes were ripped to pieces, although that wasn't the worst part. Parts of his antennas were cut off and a lot of mean to the very bone of his skin was showing. The only way he managed to get behind Vegeta was by lowering his power-level at the right moment.

Nail wrapped his arms around Vegeta. The Saiyan was trapped from that moment on since Nail's hold was way too strong for him. "L-Let me go!" Vegeta bellowed.

Nail made sure to hold on tightly. Increasing his grip he started to lift Vegeta off the ground. Vegeta went to kicking his feet excessively, though those weak hits to the shin didn't faze Nail at all. He made sure to hold on to Vegeta by any means necessary.

"Even if I have to go to extreme measures in ending you, I'll do it. If I have to kill the both of us to make sure you don't lay a hand on The Grand Elder Guru...I'll DO IT!"

Vegeta's eyes widened the moment he heard those words. "What!?" This was when Vegeta was growing very anxious about his own situation. The Saiyan went to trying to wiggle himself free, though to no avail. Nail had him exactly where he needed him.

Nail's glow began to faze the entire island. Rocks started to hover higher in the air once more and the ocean of the waves near by starting to hit the land. "This is it!"

"NO!"

And a bright flash of light began to envelop around the entire area until it surrounded the entire island itself.

Just a second later...it blew up.

There was nothing remaining of the entire area, the island itself being completely disintegrated.

* * *

The blast was so strong that even Kami felt something. "D-Did you sense that?"

The Elder Guru had a deep bond with all his children. He could feel the pain of all the deaths that were caused today, one by one as Vegeta took each of them down. Guru was deeply saddened by this. But from all the pain that he did feel...none of them compared to that of the loss of Nail.

"...Yes..." Guru let his head hang low.

Kami could tell something was wrong with Guru. And whatever it was, he didn't like it.

The rest of the Namekians could feel something happening as well. Whether it was from the shockwave of the island suddenly exploding, or whether it was something more. People knew just what Nail was risking here (his life). And to lose someone like Nail was to show in just how treacherous the situation that the Namekians were in. Nail after all, was the champion of Namek.

The only positive thing that would come out of this would be the intruder (Vegeta's) death.

Albeit he wasn't dead. Not by a longshot.

Vegeta's body had just been floating around in the green waters. He was on the verge of unconsciousness, though he still realized that he had to hold his breath. At the very last moment, Vegeta had managed to get free, though he was still caught up in the blast. Nail's sacrifice had taken a lot out of him and he wanted to rest. Though Vegeta would just wait until he could reach the nearest land.

On a small island from afar, Vegeta submerged from the water, placing his arm on the edge of the island. He let out a deep gasp of breath. With the very little strength he had left, Vegeta crawled up onto the island. Under any normal circumstances, he would be in amazement at how lucky he just got at avoiding certain death. But he was far too exhausted to even think about that at the moment.

Once Vegeta was sure that he wouldn't fall back into the water, he took a rest. He wasn't going to die, but if Nail was any stronger than his weakened state, then Vegeta would be dead for sure. All he needed at the moment was rest.

 **Power Levels**

 **Vegeta: 39,000**

 **Nail: 42,000**


	37. The Tyrant Heads to Namek

Guru and Kami had been with one another for some time now in the same spot. The moment that Nail died, Guru had felt the loss of yet another child and Kami could see it on the elder's face.

"I apologize for bringing you so much trouble to your own world," Kami spoke humbly.

Guru was quiet for just a moment. Kami didn't know how the Grand Elder would respond, but at the very least he hoped that he could be forgiven. "You don't need to apologize, Son of Katats. None of this was your fault. I feel like either way, something like this would happen sooner or later. It could have ended far worse than it has."

"So..." Kami questioned. "What do we do next?"

"Do you come here seeking a wish?" Guru questioned.

Kami then thought about it. Any intentions of obtaining the Dragon Balls for a wish had never come to mind for Kami. He only had the desire of getting to know his people as well as the world of Planet Namek. "No."

"I see." Guru let out a sigh. "But regardless. It would be quite the experience to see the Dragon in action, would it not?"

"I suppose," Kami said. From his imagination, the function of Namek's Dragon Balls had to be just as similar to the ones of his world. "Are you going to use them?"

"Here." Guru offered Kami a Dragon Ball. It had one red star on it.

Kami couldn't believe what he had his eyes on. In every way, Namekian's Dragon Balls looked just like the ones on Earth. Though, the only difference was the fact that it was approximately three times the size. "It's huge."

"That is our Dragon Ball," Guru informed Kami. "Go around to the fellow Namekians and tell them to collect the rest of the Dragon Balls. Only six remain. Once you have gathered them all, you must summon Porunga."

"But what for?" Kami asked. Surely Guru wasn't just doing this for any reason at all. There had to be a specific wish that Guru wanted in particular. "You can wish for anything that you want," Guru told Kami. "Think of it as a gift. The Dragon grants three wishes in total."

"A-ah...?" Kami was holding the giant ball in his hands. "Any wish?" Kami didn't know what to think. He looked back up to Guru. "Are you sure, Guru?"

"I am sure," Guru responded. "If not for your help in awareness, my entire people could have been wiped out. Think of it as a service for your extreme gratitude to this world."

Kami had no clue how to respond to this gesture. The ability to grant three wishes. Kami could see his own reflection through the Dragon Ball. Going into deep thought, Kami truly did not have any wishes he could think he'd be capable of granting. Though seeing at how much the Namekians had lost, he figured he might as well wished something good for this world.

Guru looked back at the ceiling. "Hm..." An uneasy feeling had overcome him. "Do you feel that?"

"Eh?" Kami looked up at Guru. He could see that Guru was getting that look again. It was a look of distress as if something bad was to happen. Kami had this look many times in his days as well. "What is it?"

"Another intruder..." Guru could feel the presence wasn't cool. "It will land here in just a few hours from now."

Kami cursed in his head. They just got rid of a threat and all of a sudden a new one was to show up. Right now, the situation was much like Earth. He didn't know if they were going to ever catch a break. "What should I do?"

Guru thought about it for a moment. Looking over at Kami, he inspected him. "Come." Kami did as Guru told him and neared the Grand Elder, who placed his hands atop his head. His dark shade of green had turned a bit lighter from the moment he had unlocked his own potential. He could also feel the growth in power. Upon noticing this, an idea formed in his mind. "Perhaps the Dragon Balls can come into good use after all."

"You have a plan?"

Guru nodded. "Yes. In fact, you should use one of the three wishes to grant yourself eternal youth."

Eternal youth? Kami didn't know what to really think about that. He had spent many years alive, though to spend all of eternity with a young version of himself? He couldn't. Although, he needed to know the reasoning. "Why?"

"It's not simply for your own benefit," Guru clarified. "I can feel a greater power within you waiting to be shown. With eternal youth, you will be given a full opportunity to demonstrate us how strong you really are. Though you don't have your other half, you can still show off a good portion of that power. And surely, it'd be enough to get rid of your intruder. Living the rest of your life as a younger version of yourself is a simple bonus for you."

Kami looked back at the Dragon Ball. Now he was seeing what Guru was saying. But thinking on this had Kami thinking much about Piccolo Daimao. He had wished for a similar wish, to have his youth back. But if Kami would to ask for eternal youth, he'd be young forever. He didn't know if he really wanted that.

"It's for the good of this world," Guru told Kami. "Even if you don't want eternal youth, you can wish to have your youth restored back. This is a grave matter."

Kami understood where Saichoro was coming from. Now having his youth back for a temporary amount of time was something he could work with. He was all about not denying the natural cycle of life. And he didn't want to disobey it by wishing for eternal youth. "I'll do it."

"Thank you," Guru responded. "Please be as quick as you possibly can. We don't have much time."

Kami nodded, knowing what he had to do.

* * *

Since a great amount of time had passed, Vegeta was getting the rest he needed. He managed to carry himself from the ground and walk over to a safe spot. He had his back pressed against a mountain. Bones of the fish of Planet Namek had surrounded the damaged male. He had made sure to eat as well to get an even faster recovery, as well as using as little movement as possible so his body could heal properly without interruptions. His strength was now in the middle of recuperating.

A near day had passed by since he had landed on Planet Namek and he was yet to get a Dragon Ball. For all he knew, it could have blown up along with the island. The Saiyan closed his eyes.

He thought about how he got to this moment from the first place. All of this, he was doing for himself. He needed those Dragon Balls. That was his only meal ticket from getting under the rule of Freeza. The Saiyan loved to fight, which was why he never really had a problem conquering planets and selling them. But at the same token, he wanted to do so on his own accord.

It was a pipe dream to ever think about getting from under the hands of Freeza. Vegeta had come to this realization long ago and accepted this fact. The only way he was going to survive was by doing what he was meant to do in the organization. He had thrown away all hopes of getting from his situation.

But the discovery of the Dragon Balls was something else. Once he heard about them and their capabilities, Vegeta's hopes began to grow. He could only hope that it wouldn't go crashing down because of one big fight.

And by what Vegeta was now sensing, it would seem that he'd never get it for an entirely different reason.

He immediately got up to his feet, alerted by a sudden energy. 'What is that power that I'm sensing...' Looking into the air, Vegeta started to scan around for someone or something. In the sky, a circular round pod was making its way down to the planet. It didn't necessarily take long for Vegeta to realize what type of pod was on its way. "It's one of Freeza's men..." Vegeta could tell by the power he was sensing that it was one of Freeza's top men. "It has to be either Zarbon or Dodoria..." Vegeta watched as the pod crashed in the middle of nowhere from afar.

"Damn...!" Vegeta knew well enough that he was nowhere near fit for fighting Dodoria yet. He was still recovering. The best thing he could do however was stay low-key with his own energy and see whatever the visitor was up to.

"Someone's here...!"

Kami was with Sput and Moori. All three of them had been going around collecting Dragon Balls. Every remaining village on the Planet was put on notice about what was happening. Everyone was thankful for being notified. So just in case something bad was going on, they'd know what was happening.

"He's finally landed...!" Kami had a trickle of sweat falling down his face. Each of the elder Namekian's had two balls in their arms. "We still falter in finding the last Dragon Ball..." Kami said.

The three of them were quite close to Vegeta. They were on a few islands away from him, looking on through the water. The island they were on had a triangular shape and they each were checking three different sides of the area. "We need to be quick..."

Dodoria had exited his pod. For the first time, he got to land on the historic planet. He had clicked his scouter. "I'm here."

Zarbon was on the other side, being the one keeping contact with Dodoria. Whatever update that was to come from Dodoria would be going through Zarbon. "Make sure you find Vegeta. Remember...he is the main priority on this planet. Try to stay away from making any contact with the locals."

"...and if I do?" Dodoria asked.

"Then kill them on the spot. Though that's the very thing you're trying to avoid. So don't be reckless."

"Gotcha. I'll keep the scouter on so you can hear what's going on."

"As you should. I'll be here if you need me."

Dodoria nodded. 'Alright. Time to find that pest...' The pink alien ascended off into the air. He clicked his scouter, looking out and trying to get readings.

pipipipipipi

Dodoria did an entire rotation around, making sure to get the highest reading he possibly could. "Hm...odd. The highest power-level I'm getting right now is only 3,500. Which is pretty strong for a Namekian. But no Vegeta, even though his pod is here. I'll just have to keep looking."

Vegeta was far below. The Saiyan was looking at Dodoria from underwater in the middle of one of Namek's many oceans. 'He's looking for me...' Vegeta slowly submerged from the water, making sure to keep his legs moving below to stay afloat. 'He must have tracked my pod... Freeza must be suspicious.'

Vegeta did have his focus on Dodoria and was going to follow him in the water, yet he sensed three other kis approaching from afar. In being curious, Vegeta took a look at who it could possibly be.

"So that is where the village used to be," Sput said. What used to be his village was nothing. Only water.

"So then it must be somewhere in the water," Kami said. The Namekian set the Dragon Balls that he had down. "I'm going to look for it."

"Are you sure?"

Kami knew he could do this. "Yes." And without giving it a second thought, Kami dove into the water. Once Kami went into the water, he started to swim around. And it came naturally to him. 'Heh. Had I not had a bit of decrease in years thanks to Guru, I probably wouldn't be doing this right now.' The Namekian continued his path.

Once Vegeta saw Kami coming in from afar he quickly took in a deep breath and lowered himself back into the water. Vegeta moved his legs as quickly as possible while going backward, lowering himself down further into the darker areas of the ocean. He made sure to keep an eye on Kami as he was swimming in. 'Who the hell is he...?' Vegeta hid behind a giant pillar of rock under water.

Kami swam forward. The more he continued to swim, the deeper he was getting. The green waters were now getting dark. As he was getting into the lower end where the pressure was beginning to build up, Kami could sense a bright orange radiant glow. So he turned around a bit to get an eye for it. Looking down Kami had his eyes on a round orange orb that glowed the same energy he felt. 'That must be it...!' Kami started to swim towards it.

Vegeta had kept a close eye on him. Being smart, Vegeta suppressed his energy just to be sure that he didn't get noticed as he trailed Kami from behind. And the closer he got, Vegeta could see the same orange luminous glow Kami had got to witness primarily.

Sput and Moori both watched as the Dragon Balls in their arms glow.

"It must be nearby," Moori spoke.

The Dragon Balls, when in near synch with one another, had a tendency to glow more often. Without a doubt, this was an indicator that another ball was in the vicinity. They were simply one short of all seven. And once each has obtained the last one, Kami would be able to get the wish that he needed.

Vegeta was in the water still, keeping an eye out for Kami. Once he came back out, he saw the older Namekian with a round orange ball in hand. Vegeta's eyes widened once he had caught sight of it. 'Could it be...?' Vegeta quickly backed up out of sight and placed himself in the same dark spot near the pillar of rock to remain undetected.

Both Sput and Moori backed up once Kami had come out with the Dragon Balls in hand. "I've found it." He had a little smile on his face, the water dripping off his soaked clothing.

Dodoria was still around in the area, looking for Vegeta as Freeza commanded him to do so. He clicked on his scouter once more, hoping to find his objective. "Close readings. 455...500..." Dodoria read the last reading, which was very familiar with one he had gotten earlier. "3,750..." Dodoria looked to where he got those readings.

"So we've got them all," Sput said. "Shouldn't we all just make the wish right here?"

"Yes," Kami confirmed. "I'm afraid we don't have much time."

"...Who are they?" Dodoria had caught notice of three people there. He then moved his eye to the side a little bit. "Aha...!" He saw Vegeta just above water, keeping afloat. The Saiyan was paying very close attention to the 3 Namekians on land from afar. "What is he doing?"

"What is he doing?" Zarbon asked Dodoria, overhearing his obese comrade mumble aloud to himself via scouter.

"He's spying on three Namekians that are setting up giant balls."

"Oh my...that sounds pretty bad out of context, Dodoria."

"Enough with the jokes, Zarbon." Dodoria snorted upon hearing Zarbon laughing through the scouter. "Whatever Vegeta's doing, he has to be planning something. And it seems like those Namekians have to do something with it."

"If I were you, I'd go out and crash the party."

"I thought I couldn't speak to any locals?"

"Eh. Who cares?" Zarbon said. "What bad could come out of this? You've found Vegeta, now it's time to get on with confronting him."

"Heh. You're right." Dodoria grinned. "I'm about to shit all over this." The pink alien flew down right at them.

The Namekians had just got the Dragon Balls set. "Alright. Let's do this." Moori was beginning to summon the dragon.

Kami felt something. And that something was making may towards them pretty quickly. Turning around, Kami spotted a weird looking creature making way towards them.

Dodoria flew right over the three Namekians and landed across from them. Kami, Moori, and Sput all stopped proceeding on with summoning the dragon, their attention now on this new intruder.

"Who are you?" Kami asked.

Dodoria just grinned. Whatever the Namekians were up to, it must have surely been important. "What are you Namekians doing?"

"And you didn't answer my question. Who are you?"

Vegeta was cursing in his head. 'What is that fool doing?' Vegeta decided to remain in the water. He figured that if Dodoria were to take away the three Namekians, then it'd be much better for himself as he wouldn't have to waste his time killing more people.

Kami and the other two Namekians could very well sense the evil surrounding Dodoria's aura. The sinister look didn't help much with their judgment of him either. Dodoria was looking to start something and his body language showed it all.

Sput then studied over Dodoria. "H-He's wearing the same armor as the man that came before..." He made sure to study Dodoira closely. And going back on what had taken place with the Saiyan, their armor was near identical. "He's working with the guy Nail killed!"

"Oh?" Dodoria cocked his head to the side. "That guy must be Vegeta, huh? You're kidding me. Vegeta...dead?" Dodoria laughed out loud, already knowing the truth. "You fools are hilarious." Dodoria clicked his scouter once more. He got a reading of 455 and 500. Yet the other one was different. 'What...? Why is it 4,400? Is this damn thing malfunctioning?'

'I see...' Vegeta was on the very edge of the island nearby. He still had his powers suppressed, listening in on the conversation. 'So they think I'm dead...hahaha...' Seeing things like this, Vegeta figured that he'd have to use the element of surprise at the perfect time.

"You should see your way back out," Kami told Dodoria. He very well knew that he had no chance of standing up to Dodoria, but he could feel his power growing. Just maybe if he stalled enough, he would be able to take him down.

"No, I think I want to have some fun over here. Just what do these balls do?"

"None of your business," Moori said.

Dodoria scoffed. "I see." With no warning, he suddenly vanished out of sight.

The pink alien appeared behind Sput. Said Namekian was far too slow to turn around and react justly. Dodoria took advantage of this and drove his big fist right through the elder Namekian's abdomen, coercing the elder to puke up blood. "Hehehehehe."

"Sput!" Moori yelled.

Dodoria vanished once more. He appeared before both Dodoria and Kami. It seemed as if it was three Dodorias, though he was simply using the Zanzōken. Kami and Moori looked around, hoping they'd be able to catch him.

Moori fired out a random ki attack, though Dodoria disappeared once more. Moori watched as his energy attack simply shot through one of Dodoria's afterimages. Said soldier zapped unexpectantly behind Moori. He spread his hands out and pressed them tightly against the Namekian's head.

Moori was struggling to get out of Dodoria's hold. Kami didn't know what to do at the current moment. He was far too weak to just test out Dodoria himself, as well as being too slow to do anything to help solve this dire predicament.

Dodoria looked out the corner of his eye while keeping the Namekian on hold. He was staring directly at Vegeta, who was at the edge of the island.

'Shit...!'

Dodoria snapped the Namekian's neck and just let him drop dead.

Kami had no words. Kami had seen many evildoers taking pleasure in killing. But this, this was something different. Dodoria had to be far worse than Piccolo ever could be. At least, in his eyes.

'So he's seen me...' Vegeta growled. 'What the hell? He knows I'm alive. So there is no point in hiding.'

Dodoria stretched his hands out. "About time I do away with you myself."

Vegeta shot from the waters, a big splash shown. The Saiyan looked over at Dodoria and Kami, who was just seconds away from dying. Vegeta's presence only seemed to stall that moment. The Saiyan touched down on the island.

"Vegeta. Just the man I've been hoping to see." He took a look at the Saiyan, seeing quite a change in appearance. "Looks like you've been messed up quite a bit, huh? I wonder what happened."

"Why are you here, Dodoria?"

"Lord Freeza's orders," Dodoria answered. "We've been wondering what the deal has been with you lately. You're in a world where no value would come out of conquering. What's so special about this place?"

Vegeta wasn't going to spill the beans for sure. If he had told Dodoria of the situation at hand, then Freeza would find out about it. And his dilemma would be an entirely different thing if Freeza had information about the Dragon Balls and its powers.

"Nothing at all. Just figured I'd blow some steam."

Dodoria chuckled. "Is that right? So you really haven't been planning on betraying us, have you? You did lie to us about Kiwi."

And so they found out. Vegeta wasn't all too anxious about it. He could speak himself out of this situation. He was in no good condition to fight head-on with Dodoria at the moment, so he'd have to get out using his brains.

"He followed me and thought it'd be smart in testing my power," Vegeta said. "You know we can't stand each other. And we can only spend so much time hanging around one another. He paid for it with his life. That was it."

"Heh. That doesn't justify your reason in lying, Vegeta. Lord Freeza wasn't very pleased with that."

"We all make mistakes," Vegeta responded coolly. Inside, his heart was thumping intensely.

"Heh. Well, I can let it slide. I don't know about Lord Freeza. We're going to have to have a little talk with him about it. We need to know if your allegiance still allies with us."

"Of course it does," Vegeta replied. "What made you think the contrary?"

"You had us suspicious," Dodoria mentioned. "Kill him and be done with it."

Vegeta turned around, facing Kami. Vegeta had a grin on his face. 'All I have to do is kill this bastard to show my trust? Pft. Easy.' Vegeta stuck his hand out.

Kami prepared himself. It was now or never. At that moment, Kami let out one loud yell. A bright blue ki surrounded him that moment.

PIPIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"Ah-Ahh...?" Dodoria was reading the growing numbers. "W-What is this power?" Kami didn't know what was overcoming him. He felt his limits progressing constantly for a while now. There was definitely no better time for all his power to come to him than now. "Ten thousand...?"

Kami shot two ki attacks at the two that moment, hoping to take them off guard. And quickly, Kami fired another ki blast at the ground beneath their feet.

Both Vegeta and Dodoria were surrounded by a major fit of smoke. The two of them covered their faces and swiped away at the smoke. "Dammit!" Dodoria growled. "Get back here!"

Vegeta looked down at the ground. 'The Dragon Balls...' Looking up above, he noted that Kami had the balls following him as he was in the air. Vegeta smacked his lips, not really wanting to join the race. Dodoria was already far ahead and all Vegeta had to do was follow in pursuit. So that was what he did.

Kami hadn't felt himself flying this fast for the first time in a long time. The Namekian was going at super speeds. He looked behind him, seeing Dodoria from afar. Kami had gotten a good enough head start, though he knew that he was going to be caught up with eventually.

"Get back here you!" Dodoria yelled.

Vegeta trailed behind Dodoria and kept a good eye on him. At this moment, Vegeta was weighing his risk and reward. Does he take on Kami and kill him off, just to show Dodoria his allegiance? Because after that Vegeta would have to take on Dodoria and kill him off so he could have the Dragon Balls for his own. But then again, that'd be a risk of fighting a stronger opponent. Vegeta was nowhere near his best yet and he was unsure of how a battle between him and Dodoria would result.

Or did he just catch Dodoria when he was least expecting it? If done so, then Vegeta wouldn't have to worry about Dodoria and would be okay with taking on the Namekian. It would be much easier for him.

Having thought out his options, Vegeta smiled. He knew what he was going to do.

"You gonna stop or what?" Dodoria asked. "I'm going to catch up eventually! And when I do, you're done with!"

Vegeta slowly began to pick up the pace on Dodoria. The Saiyan also made sure to increase his altitude at the same time. Vegeta waited for the perfect moment. He continued to catch up.

Dodoria was laughing. "Wait until I get my hands on you..."

And this was when Vegeta saw it. Dodoria was far too much focused on the Namekian and not paying attention to him. Vegeta would be a fool to miss this chance. Vegeta started to change his direction down. The Saiyan's speeds were the highest he could go. 'Here goes...'

Dodoria grinned. "I won't tell you again!" Dodoria started to charge energy in the palm of his hands. He cocked them back, getting ready to shoot Kami down.

Vegeta made it in close on Dodoria. Vegeta came down with all his force, kicking Dodoria right in the back of his neck. Vegeta chuckled as Dodoria started to fall down. He quickly raised one of his hands and fired away a large ball of ki.

Dodoria didn't see that coming either and was hit really hard with it. The attack had sent him crashing hard into the water below.

Kami took a look around, seeing what Vegeta had done. 'He got him off my back...this is my chance.' Kami took off.

Vegeta grinned, his sights back on Kami. "No, you don't!" Vegeta took off after Kami.

Unlike Dodoria, Vegeta wasn't playing around. He was making it over to Kami in no time and the Guardian of Earth took note of this. Vegeta would catch him eventually. Being smart, Kami went on descending to the ground.

Vegeta slowed down, seeing what Kami was doing. "Heh." Vegeta followed suit.

Moments after Kami had finally touched down, Vegeta did the exact same. Kami had set all the Dragon Balls into one circle, surrounding his legs. Vegeta just looked at him.

"So here we are," Kami said. "What are you going to do now?"

Vegeta had his hands out, grinning. "What I'm going to do is kill you and take the Dragon Balls for myself. I'm going to get my wish."

Kami grinned. "You can try all you want. It's not possible for you."

Vegeta growled. "How so?"

"It's just not," Kami told Vegeta. "Not for you anyhow. And I would never tell you either."

Vegeta lowered his hand. He wasn't as dumb as what Kami thought of him to be. Vegeta saw what Kami was getting at. "You're implying that the Dragon Balls must have some password. I need to know that before I can have my wish granted."

Kami remained silent.

Vegeta hit the bingo and he was smiling that he was right. The look Kami gave him was all he needed. "Very well. I won't kill you then. I'll just beat you until you tell me the password. Then I'll kill you after."

"Not going to happen," Kami told Vegeta. "Whatever your wish is, I won't let you have it. I know you have bad intentions."

Vegeta chuckled. "Immortality isn't too much to ask for now." The Saiyan got on guard. Kami was fairly strong, stronger than any regular Namekian, but he was someone he wouldn't have any trouble handling. "Prepare yourself."

"Vegeta!" Dodoria crashed into the ground. The Saiyan and Namekian looked over to their side. Dodoria slowly raised himself off one knee. Looking over to Vegeta, he was livid. Though at the same time, he had a smile on his face.

'Shit...!' Vegeta could see that he didn't finish the job. Dodoria should have been dead. Either Vegeta overestimated his power or he underestimated Dodoria's durability. Perhaps even both.

Dodoria could be seen, very well damaged. Some cracks here and there in his armor and he was bruised in certain places. He was taken deep, heavy breaths. He had fixed the crooked and cracked scouter over his left eye. "I..." he tapped the scouter. "...heard..." he tapped it again. "...everything."

Vegeta growled. Certainly, Freeza was hearing what they were all conversating about. And this was bad news. The only good thing that came out of this was some weakening in Dodoria's energy. Other than that, nothing too good.

"So I was right." Dodoria chuckled. "You were betraying us after all. Good that Freeza knows of your plans. He should be on his way now."

Vegeta was greatly alerted by this. "Say what?" If Freeza was on his way to Namek, then things would be much worse off for him. He didn't need that right now.

"Who is Freeza?" Kami asked. From what he was hearing, this Freeza guy wasn't good. And to see the worried look on Vegeta's face proved in itself that this Freeza person was somewhat terrifying.

"Only the strongest being in the universe of course," Dodoria chuckled. "All of your days are numbered. Especially yours, Vegeta."

Vegeta growled. The Saiyan was not going to put up with any bullshit from Dodoria right now. He truly needed to get those Dragon Balls. "Rahhh!" Vegeta powered up. Even though the Saiyan was very weakened, he did get some rest. He just hoped it'd be enough to take on Dodoria.

"Nearing 20,000, huh? I see how you managed to beat Kiwi."

Vegeta didn't respond and took off for Dodoria. Said man was quick to block a hard blow from Vegeta by using his arm. The two then started to go back and forth, Vegeta being more on the offensive.

Kami watched as the two fought back and forth. 'This is my only chance...' Kami raised the Dragon Balls. And seizing this opportunity, he took off into the sky.

Vegeta stopped attacking Dodoria and looked back over to Kami. "No, you don't!" Vegeta ignited his aura and went over to Kami.

"Hah!" Dodoria grabbed Vegeta by his wrist.

Vegeta found himself stuck. Kami and those Dragon Balls were his only objective at the current moment. He looked back at Dodoria and clocked the man directly in the face. Once he was let go, Vegeta had his eyes back on Kami.

The Saiyan flew off for him, hoping to catch up soon. Dodoria appeared out of nowhere, blocking Vegeta's path. "Those Dragon Balls are for Lord Freeza now, fool." Dodoria raised his fists.

Vegeta growled and rendered Dodoria a hard blow to the gut. He didn't have any time for playing games. Immortality was now his only chance at coming out alive. Dodoria chuckled and rammed his head into Vegeta's chin.

A piece of Vegeta's skin was peeled off thanks to the spikes that went along with Dodoria's genetic make-up. A bit of blood was about in the air, falling on Dodoria's cheek. He grinned and licked it.

Vegeta came back hard at Dodoria and poked the man right in the eyes, crushing Dodoria's scouter in the process. Vegeta made sure to put just enough pressure to gouge them, especially with the shards of glass from Dodoria's now ruined scouter. He didn't let Dodoria rest and karate chopped him right in the throat, so now Dodoria would have a hard time breathing, as well as seeing.

Vegeta gut-checked Dodoria in the stomach and he did so over and over again. Dodoria was simply not able to stop it from happening to him. Dodoria tried to smack Vegeta down, though he took a wild swing. He had just barely missed Vegeta.

Said Saiyan maneuvered around Dodoria and rammed his knee into the man's kidney. A piece of armor flew off, a sharp piece entering his skin as well. Vegeta placed his hand behind Dodoria's back, charging an energy attack. "Good riddance."

"N-No...Vegeta..." Dodoria had his hands before his face. "You don't want to kill me."

Vegeta chuckled. "Good-Bye Dodoria."

"No...Your homeworld! Planet Vege-UGH!" A hole was pierced through his stomach. Dodoria wheezed out his last words as he was beginning to fall over. "Vegeta...d-destroyed. L-Lord Freeza..."

Vegeta watched as Dodoria fell down into the waters, on to drown in a pool of his own blood. And he could very well tell what Dodoria was trying to say with his last words. "Why should I be surprised that Freeza destroyed my homeworld?" Vegeta scoffed. "The fool really thought I gave a damn about any of the Saiyan people..." Vegeta turned around. "But Freeza will pay..."

There was no Kami and the man had gone out of sight. Vegeta would only waste his time in trying to find Kami with his eyes. So he hoped he'd be able to track him down with his energy.

Nada.

"I lost him...! Fuck!" Vegeta knew he would get backtracked thanks to his battle with Dodoria, but he had no idea where Kami could have gone. "No!"

Vegeta felt himself beginning to rage. He needed his wish. That was the only way he'd ever come out on top against Freeza. Vegeta took off in a fit of rage. "I won't let you escape with those Dragon Balls! DO YOU HEAR MEEEE!" Vegeta's eyes reddened a lot, nearly popping a blood vessel as he screamed.

His speed had broken a sound barrier at how fast he was going. He had lost all sense of direction, only hoping that he'd find Kami somehow. Vegeta was starting to lose it as Freeza was to near him.

And as Vegeta was in a panic to get those Dragon Balls, Freeza was merely chill about it.

The tyrant sat in his hoverchair, looking out. It'd only be a couple of days before he made it to Planet Namek himself. He had a smile on his face. Vegeta was to have no chance of getting ahold of those Dragon Balls. At least, when he got there.

Because once Freeza was to arrive, it'd be an entirely different ball game from then on out.

 **Vegeta (recovering): 19,500+**

 **Dodoria: 22,250**

 **Kami (Growing Power): 3,500/3,750/4,400). (Full Power): 10,000**


	38. Porunga Appears

It had been a while now and Freeza was yet to get any response from Dodoria. Right behind him was Zarbon, the man accompanying him. Second by second they were inching closer to Namek, and pretty quick, too. Freeza initially didn't want to waste his time going to that planet, but upon getting information about the Dragon Balls of their world, all plans made a change.

"It would appear that Dodoria didn't come out alive. Vegeta had to take him by surprise and got the advantage over him."

Freeza scoffed, not really caring about Dodoria now. "He's a fool to genuinely believe Vegeta in the first place." The tyrant knew that if he were ever in Dodoria's shoes, he would have killed the Saiyan on the spot. But Dodoria was simply far too blind and unfocused to see the lies ripping through Vegeta's teeth. "So be it... that's all in the past now. It'll be an entire different story once we get there."

"You believe so?" Zarbon questioned.

Freeza just grinned. "While yes, of course. We will only be collecting these balls."

"And as for Vegeta?" Zarbon inquired.

"As you mentioned, he took Dodoria by surprise. From what I know, the very most you'll have to do against him is transform, which would mean we don't need the Ginyu Force." Freeza took a sip of his wine, letting out a refreshing sigh subsequent to his gulps. "Other than that, I wouldn't worry myself too much. Vegeta is simply a speed bump in our path. Once we run him over, everything is mine for the taking."

Zarbon nodded. "Yes, sire."

And so that was that. Zarbon would have to be the one to take on Vegeta. And he knew well enough that he shouldn't underestimate said Saiyan just by how he managed to do away with Dodoria.

The only thing on Freeza's mind was getting his chance at immortality. With that, then there would not be a day where he couldn't happily rule the universe. He'd be the strongest mortal in existence for all eternity and there'd absolutely be no chance of stopping him.

* * *

Vegeta had been on the look-out for Kami for a while now, many consecutive hours to be exact. "Tch...! Bastard is nowhere to be found." Surely, the Saiyan had calmed down. He had a giant burst of anger a while ago and didn't seem like he was going to chill out for a while. But he could feel his energy slowly depleting and he knew that he had to be ready to fight Freeza if needed so.

The Saiyan was getting truly aggravated. He had been traveling for a long time now and bypassed many villages. He was walking around one of the villages, it being undamaged. Ever since Vegeta got there, he had only managed to rid of one before having to get into his fight with Nail.

Even still, it was odd. Out of all these villages Vegeta managed to visit, he was yet to find one life. He knew they weren't dead, though he also had a hard time sensing out for power. It was as if this planet was a barren wasteland.

Vegeta's patience was falling by the minute. "At any moment Freeza can be here by now. And if I don't have immortality, then I'm fucked..!" Vegeta felt a sharp ki appear out of nowhere. His eyes widened as soon as he felt it. "W-Who...?" Vegeta turned around and looked up at the sky. "Freeza?" Vegeta was hoping it wasn't, but the power he was able to sense was no joke.

Vegeta kept his eyes open, looking to see if it really was Freeza. Though the closer the powers neared, the more the Saiyan could feel it wasn't Freeza. Two giant ships appeared in the sky. "Ginyu Force...?" Seeing how the powers were all too weak to be Freeza, it had to be the Ginyu Force. The squad consisted of five men, Freeza's most respected elites.

But then again, it wasn't them either. The powers were heavily suppressed, too weak to be the Ginyus for sure. Just a split second later Vegeta could feel a familiar power coming from all of those ships. "I-It's those earthling bastards...! And Kakarot...!" Vegeta was grinding his teeth. Hour by the hour, his plan continued to go to shit. It was bad enough that Freeza was to make an expected arrival but to have Kakarot in the mix of it was something Vegeta wasn't wanting at the moment.

He was getting nervous.

Vegeta's focus was then diverted. Taking a look around the skies, he could notice that they were beginning to darken. "W-What is this...?" Vegeta had been on the planet for well over a day and it had never gotten dark since. He knew about Planet Namek and the two suns that the planet had, so it would be something abnormal for it to suddenly get dark. "Unless..."

DING!

"And they're almost here," Kami spoke. "Everything is going just as planned." The Namekian had set the Dragon Balls and summoned the dragon.

He and the rest of the Namekians all went to a faraway place, which was the Elder Guru's island. While Elder Guru's home was at the top of the island residing on a long, thick rock, everyone else was down below, looking up at the Dragon above them.

The ritual was very much the same, albeit, in order to make the dragon appear, the password had to be in Namekian. And now before them was the dragon, Porunga.

Kami couldn't believe what he was seeing. 'Indeed he is much larger compared to Shenron himself.' A little grin came from Kami's face. For sure it had to be because the dragon balls on this world were much more powerful in comparison. He was genuinely happy to be able to experience such a thing.

For many other younger Namekians, this was their first time seeing the Dragon as well. A lot of them looked onto Porunga with wide eyes filled with amazement. Such novelty was a rarity and they weren't going to forget this moment for sure.

"I will grant three wishes that are within my powers. Thou who has gathered the Dragon Spheres, grant your first wish."

And here it was. The moment of truth. All Kami had to do was grant himself one wish and one only. He knew what one of the three would be, though he felt obligated to use another wish. And that obligation went strongly over to Guru. In the back of his mind, Kami recalled a conversation he and Guru had while Nail was out fighting Vegeta.

Guru talked about how he knew that he did not have much time left. He was going to pass away soon. Before granting his own wish, the very least Kami could do was make one himself. "First, I wish for you to grant the grand elder Guru his youth back to him!" In order to grant the wishes, the language had to be spoken in Namekian.

Every single Namekian next to Kami couldn't believe exactly what Kami had dared to wish for. None of them expected this, but rather for Kami to get the wish. So many were bewildered, not knowing why Kami would even do such a thing.

But Kami had it all figured out. If Guru was to pass away anytime soon, then it would be somewhat likely that he wouldn't be able to grant his next wishes. Guru was on the very edge and Kami could sense it. Not to mention, it was pay-back for such gratitude that the elder had bestowed upon him following his arrival on Namek.

"Understood! I will grant you your first wish!" Porunga's eyes glowed red. Even though the Namekians weren't going to get to see Guru first hand, they knew that he had to at least be somewhat different in appearance. To go back to his prime days.

"I have granted your first wish. What is your second?"

Now, this was the moment. Kami had to grant himself the very same wish that he gave upon Guru. Going back into his younger days, he would be able to show off much more power than he currently possessed at the moment. And maybe, just maybe it would be enough to do away with Vegeta for good.

Before Kami could even open his mouth, a sudden guest appeared before them all. Many Namekians backed up in a sudden freight once they saw the one to infiltrate the ritual.

It was Vegeta. And he didn't look too happy.

"So this is where you've been...!" Vegeta looked over everyone. The moment he saw the dragon he just knew that it had something to do with the Dragon Balls. This planet was known to not having any night time, so it would be the only thing to explain this peculiar occurrence. He was somewhat mad at being so close to losing his chance of getting his wish, though now was just as a good as time to get it done.

"I-It's him!" Some of the Namekians even got on guard, ready for Vegeta to pull something.

The Saiyan took note of all the hostility coming from some of the older Namekians. He found it somewhat amusing and smiled at them. "I'll let you slide." Vegeta looked up at the dragon. "I see you all got him set up to grant my wish anyhow."

"We would never...!" One of the elders got in front of Vegeta.

Vegeta then got serious once more. "I'm going to tell you once and once only. If you grant me my wish of immortality, no harm will come upon your people. Right now something far much worse is making its way into this world. Someone much more terrifying than myself. And if I don't get immortality, then there is no chance I have of beating him."

"We can't do that!" Kami told Vegeta. "We don't know what you'll do with such power. Besides, we have the earthlings coming to aid us as well."

Vegeta snarled at Kami. "You dumb ass!" Vegeta could even feel Freeza's ki nearing the planet. "If you don't do so right now, we're all doomed!"

Kami looked back to the dragon. 'Kakarot and the others are on their way. I can feel them. They should be here at any moment now.' The best thing for Kami to do in his current situation was to stall. Though he knew not to underestimate Vegeta's intelligence, so he had to play it smart himself.

And he knew just how he was going to get around this problem.

"Porunga!"

Vegeta watched as Kami spoke to the dragon. He had next to no understanding of what Kami was saying, but he was hoping that he was getting his wish granted. A smile crept on Vegeta's face, the Saiyan getting his hopes up. He was just an inch away from getting immortality now.

"That wish I can do!" Porunga's eyes glowed red once more.

And then Vegeta waited. And waited. He was hoping to feel some change, yet he didn't get anything. 'D-Do I have it?' Vegeta looked at his hands, his arms. Inspecting himself, Vegeta was hoping to see a difference. Because at the current moment, he sure as hell wasn't feeling any type of altercation.

"H-He's changed!"

Vegeta's eyes darted over to Kami. "W-What the hell?"

Kami had taken an entirely different appearance. His skin was much greener. All the wrinkles he once had was no longer found. It was safe to point out that Kami was very much young again.

Kami could feel it, too. It had been centuries since he felt all this pent up energy swelling inside him. He looked at his fist and tightened it up. This strength. This was the strength he missed out on for so long.

Vegeta was growing furious once he recognized what Kami had done. Vegeta didn't get his wish of immortality. That bastard Kami had used it for his own needs, in regaining his youth. "You son of a bitch!" Vegeta stuck his hands out for Kami. "I'm going to kill one of these bastards right now if you don't get me my wish!"

"Hmm..." Kami didn't rather say much in response.

Vegeta started to gather energy in the palm of his hand. Moving it, he was now aiming at a little boy. The Namekian child was hugged tightly by one of the other elder Namekians. Vegeta had a wide smile on his face. "Let me show you the consequences of being such a fool."

"RAHHHH!" Out of nowhere, multiple young Namekian fighters launched their way at Vegeta.

"No!" Kami yelled.

Vegeta stood there, grinning. No matter how many would try to gang up on him, there was no way they'd be capable of taking him out. The only thing they were doing was rushing themselves into their own deaths. Vegeta hopped into the air, missing a leg sweep from behind.

Vegeta kicked that Namekian in the center of his head with the tip of his boot, crushing his skull in. The Saiyan then came to an immediate stop. One of the Namekians had grabbed him from behind, hoping to have him detained. Vegeta chuckled and rammed his elbow into the man's abdomen.

"GRAKH!" Blood flew out his mouth, splatting on the ground. Even though his grip had loosened on the Saiyan, he wasn't letting go.

Vegeta only hit him again and again in the same spot. He did this repeatedly until his grip was no longer there. Looking down below and straight ahead, he saw two blasts coming from him. Vegeta zipped out of sight, letting the fighting Namekian get struck to death by friendly fire.

Vegeta appeared behind the one on the lower ground and struck him in the back of the head. The Namekian fell over to his knees before falling hard on his face. Vegeta then looked up at the other Namekian and blasted him head-on.

"R-RAGHJHHHH!" He was being burned to a crisp by Vegeta's attacks. Said Saiyan laughed out loud at his screams of agony before dropping down with a burnt body.

Everyone backed away from Vegeta, disgusted and terrified by this scene. Kami was fuming inside. "How dare you...!"

Vegeta then turned around. "I want my wish! Give it to me or else!" Behind him, many Namekians were contemplating making an attack. But after seeing just what Vegeta was capable of, none of them were too sure themselves. Taking a swing at him would also be taking a swing at losing their own life.

Kami turned back to Porunga. No matter what, he was never going to give Vegeta the wish he was looking for. Kami spoke a few words to Porunga. And Vegeta just stood there, waiting once more.

"Very well." Porunga glowed a little bit before suddenly taking off into the sky.

"Ah?" Vegeta was anxious about it, hoping that'd he get some sensation around his body. He waited for the dragon balls to shoot off. But even still...Vegeta didn't feel anything. The darkness had disappeared and the skies were bright once more. "What did you tell him?" Vegeta asked.

"I told him to leave," Kami blatantly lied. He had used Vegeta's lack of knowledge of the Namekian language to his own advantage. Vegeta, of course, was not sure what Kami was saying, so it could have been anything. This all fit into the man's plan, giving himself enough time to stall. "Simply put. You didn't get your wish."

"GRRRR...! You..." Vegeta's purple aura ignited. "I'm going to murder every last one of you."

"No," Kami told Vegeta. "You're not." Raising his hand, Kami pointed. "Look behind you."

"A-Ah...?" Vegeta's energy canceled out. Wondering who could have been behind him, Vegeta took a look. The Namekians had all gathered space for the five new arrivals. Vegeta knew he shouldn't have been surprised upon seeing Kakarot and his allies. But then again, Vegeta was hoping this wasn't true. He was still not one hundred percent.

"Nice to see you again...old friend."

Vegeta growled. Here Kakarot was, more confident than ever. "You..."

"Ths time we won't let you escape," Yamcha told Vegeta.

Vegeta remembered him. Yamcha was the one to embarrass Piccolo when they fought on earth a couple of weeks ago. Vegeta was not looking forward to this. No. Not right now.

Kakarot took a peek over at Kami. "I see you rewound the clock back a couple of years." And it wasn't only that, but Kakarot could feel the insane growth in strength coming from the Namekian as well.

"Indeed."

"I don't have time for this!" Vegeta growled. "Freeza is going to be here any moment and I'm not going to waste my life trying to fight him while having to deal with you fools."

"You're talking about that guy nearing earth," Tien said.

"King Kai had warned us about him," Chaotzu mentioned.

"I can tell where he's going to land," Yamcha pointed out. "He just broke the sound barrier not too long ago."

"Oh, we know all about him." Kakarot cracked his neck." We discussed that on the way here. Everyone else here is going to take care of him. It's just going to be me and you fighting, though."

The Namekians felt a great sense of relief overcoming them. Finally, the people to save their world had arrived. Surely everything was going to be a safe bet now.

Vegeta and Kakarot stared each other down. It wasn't the first time they had one of these little episodes. There was a good amount of hate between one another. Kakarot was itching to get a fight between the two started, just to finally show that he was capable of taking Vegeta out on his own.

And while Vegeta would love to kill Kakarot as Kakarot would the same, Vegeta knew it wasn't the best time for this. He wasn't strong enough at the moment and it wouldn't go well for him.

"Follow me." Kakarot ascended off the ground and took off into the sky.

Vegeta watched as Kakarot took off. 'This bastard is challenging me to a battle...' Vegeta took a look to everyone else. Ox, Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu were not budging one bit. 'So they're not joining the fight this time.' Vegeta realized that without them fighting, then he maybe had a chance. He was preserving a great bit of his energy and he could feel himself beginning to grow stronger. With a one on one, then perhaps he would be able to take out Kakarot.

Vegeta, having made his decision, took off to follow his adversary from behind. Though he recollected being told that Kakarot was off training on his way, Vegeta felt like he could handle Kakarot alone. The last two fights he was stronger than him, though while not by much, he was still stronger. And from a low-level Saiyan, no amount of preparation would be enough to face off against an elite like Vegeta.

"Heh." A cocky smile found its way on Vegeta's face. "I'm going to kill him and get the hell off this planet." Getting the Dragon Balls for his own wish was long gone now. With Freeza on Namek, the entire planet was a hostile zone. The sooner he handled business and left, the better.

But the others were left with the Namekians.

Kami had approached Tien and the others. "What do you all plan on doing?"

Tien looked off into the sky. Freeza was mere moments away from landing. "We're going to take care of Freeza ourselves."

"Are you sure that none of you will be needing any help?"

Tien nodded. The difference in power now between them and Freeza was great, though they all had various techniques in their arsenal: primarily the Kaio-Ken. With that by their side, then Freeza would be no problem to take care of.

"Yeah." Yamcha winked at Kami. "Don't even worry about it. We've got it taken care of."

Kami nodded. "I should go with just to be sure."

"Not a good idea," Tien told the Namekian. "You'll only get in the way. You've really gotten stronger, but you can sense his power. You wouldn't be able to bring him down."

Kami nodded, understanding. "I guess you're right." At the top corner of his eye, he spotted a Namekian. He looked fairly young and was really thin, though with a very tall stature in height. 'Guru...'. Kami couldn't believe how the man was looking now. It was an entirely different person. It was as if, that man wasn't even Guru. "It appears that I'm needed here anyhow," Kami told Tien. "I wish the best of luck to you all."

"Thank you," Chaotzu said. Everyone else nodded in acknowledgment before shooting off into the sky.

"So they're the ones that are helping us?" one of the Namekians asked.

Kami turned around and responded. "Yes. They had been on their way for some time now. I'm glad they got here when they did." Kami looked over some of the dead bodies Vegeta had done away with not too long ago. "We can avoid a massacre now." Kami would like to hang out with his people, though he could tell that he was needed by Guru. "All of you stay here." Taking a glance back up, he was hoping to see Guru. Obviously he went back inside as he was no longer out. "I'll be in there." Kami ascended off into the air.

Guru was inside, just waiting for Kami to show up. Once Kami had used the circular elevator to enter his room, Guru had his eyes on Kami. The man was still very tall, though he wasn't as humongous as he was prior to having his wish granted. "I see you've made equal wishes on both our sides."

"Yes. It was the very least I could do."

Guru sighed. "I appreciate the gratitude. But, I would have preferred if you hadn't."

"Huh? But why?" He was pretty sure that Guru would have liked to live a little longer, especially from having been told that his end was nearing in such a time of need.

"Things like death is not something I'm afraid of. Personally, I prefer things to take their way naturally. There is a thing called fate, one's destiny. And using the dragon balls to avoid it is not something I am with."

"Oh. I see." Kami gave a light bow. "My apologies."

"What is done is done," Guru said. "Had you not wished for my youth at all, you wouldn't have been able to get yours due to my passing. I could truly feel it. But then, you saved me." Kami did not speak. He had no idea how he wanted to respond at the moment. "I should be gone right now," Guru pointed out. "That should be my fate. I should no longer be in existence as of right now."

"But there is no way to take it back," Kami told Guru. "Perhaps this was your fate."

Guru scoffed while giving off a smile. "You're an intelligent man indeed." He neared Kami. "But there is a way to put fate back in order."

Kami just blinked repeatedly. He didn't have any idea where Guru was getting at. But he had a feeling he was about to find out soon.

* * *

Kakarot and Vegeta just happened to land on an empty island from afar. Finally, they were alone. Kakarot was hoping to not receive any distractions or assistance from anybody. "Finally. We both got what we want."

"Heh. Had I known you had a desire to really die, I would have done it from the jump, Kakarot."

Kakarot smiled at that comment from Vegeta. "More like you would have made an attempt at killing me. We both know how inefficient you are at killing away genuine strong opponents like myself."

Vegeta's eye twitched at that remark. "We'll see about that."

"Why don't you go all out?" Kakarot asked. "I'm about through with games."

Vegeta had a straight face. Even still, he wasn't at one hundred percent. That fight with Nail had taken a lot out of him. Hell, he was lucky to even be alive at this point. But he'd be happy to oblige. Vegeta gave out a sharp yell, letting his energy lose.

Kakarot's eyes narrowed at the sudden burst of strength. It wasn't the fact that Vegeta's power had increased dramatically, though more so the contrary. Vegeta's power had jumped, but not by much. Kakarot also noted that Vegeta's strength had barely surpassed the strength he had while on earth.

"Is that really it?" Kakarot asked.

"Tch...!"

Kakarot observed Vegeta. It was apparent that he had undergone some battle as he was here. And judging by Vegeta's torn up clothing, it was a hell of a battle. It could have been that Vegeta was still tired out.

"I see. You're not recovered."

Vegeta didn't say anything. Kakarot had pointed out something Vegeta was trying to hide. And now it looked like it'd be in Kakarot's advantage. "Won't save you from death."

"Hah!" Kakarot dug into his armor. "Under any other circumstance, I'd have no problem killing you like you are now." Pulling out a small pouch, Kakarot dug his hands inside, pulling out a green bean. "Though I know I'm more than capable enough to kill you at full power, I want to prove it for myself." He plucked the bean at Vegeta.

"Huh?" Vegeta just caught it on impulse.

"Eat it," Kakarot advised. "With that bean, your energy heals as well as your wounds. We're not starting the dance until I know you're ready."

Vegeta didn't know if he was to trust Kakarot. He knew that the lower class Saiyan was somewhat sneaky. But Vegeta sure as hell didn't have any other choice. He was either going to chance it or stay as he was. Thinking his decisions, Vegeta placed the bean in his mouth.

He chewed. And chewed. Once Vegeta swallowed and digested the bean, he felt everything come back to him. No longer was he just as tired or fatigued. And that fight with Nail helped him more than he thought would have. Vegeta let out a smirk. He had a great power bubbling inside him.

Kakarot could feel it, too. And he was getting somewhat excited to face off against Vegeta.

Said Saiyan crouched down, beginning to power up. "You don't realize just how big of a mistake you've just made, Kakarot...!" The ground started to shake. Through the intensity, Vegeta was chuckling graciously. He had never felt any power like this before. From his standpoint, he was breaking the natural limits of any modern Saiyan. That could only mean one thing.

Kakarot just stared and stared. Personally, he wasn't all that impressed with Vegeta's constant growing power. He was still far ahead. The only thing to be happy about was how effective training in the gravity chamber was.

* * *

And as Kakarot was getting prepared to deal with Vegeta, the others were getting ready to face off against Freeza. The moment that he had landed on the planet, he found out that he had people expecting him.

"Very rare that people from such a backwater planet like earth would know about Lord Freeza," Zarbon said. Aside he was Freeza, and around them were dozens of soldiers. Chaotzu, Ox, Tien, and Yamcha were all fearless, also somewhat confident.

"Why don't you see how strong they are, Zarbon." Freeza was still in his hoverchair. Rather than doing the work himself, Freeza figured that he rather be entertained by an upcoming fight.

Zarbon calculated over everyone's power. "3,000...4,700...5,000..." Lastly, he looked over Ox. "And 5,500." Zarbon clicked his scouter, stopping the readings. "All of them are not too bad. Especially the child."

Freeza studied over Ox. "He looks so much like any other Saiyan would." Observing the boy even more, Freeza managed to spot his tail. And that was all he needed to know. "Of course he would be. Must be Raditz's bastard."

Ox snarled at the two. "No."

"He's a feisty one," Zarbon said. "I'll take care of them myself."

Ox stepped up to the plate. He had been training hard with his father for the past six days now. He was itching to reveal his power and better yet, surprise those underestimating him. All of the soldiers knew they were of no challenge for any of them. But Zarbon was the only one capable of handling such weaklings. So he was going to do the job.

The only downside to this for Zarbon. He had no idea just how much power they were all holding back.

With each moment in passing, the possible fate of Namek was still very well in question. More than one fight was to transpire on this planet simultaneously. All of the bloodshed... over seven wish granting objects. But regardless...

It was time to fight.

 **Power Levels**

 **Chaotzu (suppressed): 3,000**

 **Yamcha (Suppressed) 4,700**

 **Tien (Suppressed): 5,000**

 **Ox (Suppressed): 5,500**

 **Namekians fighting Vegeta: 2,000-3,000**


	39. The Fights Begin

Zarbon came into this fight with a cocky grin on his face. All of the other men spectating just stood there, waiting for orders from their superiors.

"I'm going to have some fun with you fools." Zarbon cracked his neck.

Freeza's main reason for being on Namek was to get the Dragon Balls. Everyone was well aware of this. Albeit he wasn't going to make any effort in searching for it himself. The tyrant looked at his soldiers. "I could have sworn the main objective for all of you fools was to go out and search for the Dragon Balls." He gave a cold glare to everyone that had sent a cold chill down each of their spines. Ox and the others noted the fear that enveloped them the very moment words came out of his mouth. The glare wasn't making it any better at all.

"You heard him, guys!" One of the men ascended off into the air. "Let's go!" Many others started to follow along immediately. In the blink of an eye, well over a hundred of them were taking off.

"They're headed for the Dragon Balls!" Yamcha shouted out.

Ox's burst of aura appeared around him prior to shooting off into the air. "I've got them!"

Zarbon chuckled and raised his hands in the air. "You're not going anywhere, brat...!"

"No, you don't!" Yamcha rushed in on him. Zarbon was far too slow to react and paid the price with a hard elbow to the hip. The ki that the man had gathering in his hand canceled out instantly as he was falling over to his side.

Zarbon caught himself from falling down completely by sticking his hand over to the ground. As he was positioned on his side and his arm sticking out to keep him up, Yamcha took advantage and kicked him directly in the stomach.

Ox appeared before all of the soldiers at once, stretching his arms out. "You're not going anywhere."

One of the head honchos of Freeza's common soldiers, a pink-skinned male with blue hair, growled. He knew well enough just how powerful this kid was, simply recalling the power he had. But then he thought about it...he was just one person.

His confidence slowly growing, a grin appeared on his face. "A little Saiyan brat like yourself think you can take on over a hundred grown men?"

As if on cue, Chaotzu appeared alongside Ox. "He's got me, too!"

They all paused for a brief second. The very next second fits of laughter busted all amongst the soldiers. "One brat plus a pipsqueak doesn't make any difference at all." Each of them had their hands and weapons out, getting ready to blast them. "Say goodbye!"

Chaotzu looked over at Ox, who gave a nod of approval. Now in the clear, Chaotzu stuck his hands out.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, nobody was moving. "H-Hey..." One of the soldiers spoke. "W-Why can't I move...?" Grunts and moans were coming among every one of the squad, though not one single movement was being made. It was as if they were paralyzed from the neck down.

'Hm...' Freeza was studying them from below. 'Perhaps they are more troublesome than I imagined that they would be...' He looked back over to Zarbon, who was just getting back up. "Are you actually going to get serious and kill these fools or are you going to continue wasting my time?"

Zarbon didn't take any liking to being embarrassed before underlings as well as his master. He rubbed his hip a little bit, alleviating the pain. He had his eyes steady on Yamcha, too. "He's a dead man...!" Zarbon crouched down, beginning to take things seriously.

"Take advantage!" Chaotzu warned Ox. "I can't control all of them at once for much longer." Chaotzu was focusing just as hard as he possibly could, using his telekinetic powers in order to keep every one of their opposers stationary.

Ox understood and tensed his body, preparing to power up.

"Hm...?" Freeza eyed the boy, getting a reading from him. His scouter was going up like crazy. Once he realized that the numbers were growing with no signs of stopping, Freeza was now truly beginning to get impressed. '30,000...45,000...55,000...' And the numbers were still going up...

Zarbon wasn't paying any attention to Ox powering up as he was in the state of transforming. His scouter was beeping, yet he was too focused on powering up himself.

Ox, once he was done powering up, placed one hand up high into the air. There he let his ki charge up. He ignored all the scared faces as he was getting ready to do away with all of them in one blow.

"N-No! WAIT!"

"HAHHHHHHH!" Ox pushed his attack forth.

A bright blue light started to make shadows over their bodies the closer it got to them. A great lot of them were placed in shock as the attack neared. Perhaps even without Chaotzu having to keep them still, they'd never get out in time in the first place.

And just like that...they were done.

Every. Single. One.

Gone.

Ox made sure to pour just as much energy required to take out every last bit of them. Chaotzu had put his hand down, no longer using his own powers to keep the soldiers at bay. Seeing them all be done with so lightly, Chaotzu simply couldn't help but smile.

Freeza was still looking over the scouter, observing the Half Saiyan's reading. 'His power was just getting ready to break 70,000...though once he disposed of all my men in one shot, his power went back down to 5,500...' Freeza knew of only certain people capable of suppressing their true power. Turns out these earthlings had to be one of them.

Zarbon, having completed his transformation, had taken appearance of the total opposite of what he was before (a skinny pretty boy looking full of elegance). Now the man looked like an ogre; buff and ugly. The two main things that stuck out was his large, disgusting snout as well as his carnivorous teeth. "You're all dead now...!"

Freeza was contemplating on telling Zarbon that he should stand down and let him take care of it. Although considering the fact that he had just arrived, Freeza kind of didn't want to. It had a bit to do with laziness sure, but he wanted to see what the earthlings were capable of.

"Come on." Yamcha beckoned Zarbon over with his hand. "I'll play with you for a bit..."

"Yamcha..." Tien said. "We don't have any time to play at all."

Yamcha understood where Tien was getting at, but he was so caught up in the heat of the moment. "I'm just going to have a little fun. Don't worry, Tien."

Tien huffed and crossed his arms. With a stern look, he eyed Freeza, who glared back at him. That cocky smirk Freeza had put the tri-clops nervous for a brief moment. Just by feeling such overwhelming power within such close proximity to him, Tien didn't know what to expect from Freeza. 'Not even a regular Kaio-Ken would have any effect on him...'

* * *

Finally, Vegeta was to come face to face with Kakarot. This time he hoped that there would not be any distractions between the two. Twice before the fight ended up with him having to scurry away because Kakarot's allies felt they needed to jump in. This time they were nowhere near and this made Vegeta all the more sure he would be able to take care of his most hated rival.

"Rah!" Once he got finished powering up, Vegeta launched right over to Kakarot. Kakarot smiled, seeing that Vegeta was coming at him much faster than he ever did before. He went to block a kick from Vegeta, yet the Saiyan quickly changed his direction and flew over atop Kakarot's head.

'Heh...' Kakarot turned around, catching Vegeta change direction and make way towards him. He waited at the last moment before rocketing off into the sky, having missed a direct kick from Vegeta. Seeing an oncoming ki attack from below, Kakarot quickly smacked it away.

Vegeta was no longer down on the ground. Sensing out for his ki, Kakarot managed to find him in practically no time. Quickly flying towards his side, he missed a kick coming for his neck. Vegeta followed, his fists cocked back.

"I see you're running away again, Kakarot!" Vegeta sent a barrage of punches and kicks.

The lower-class Saiyan wasn't really having that much of a difficult time blocking and swaying away Vegeta's punches and kicks. Still, at the same time, he was surprised with Vegeta. 'I spent nearly an entire week training in that thing...I come here and he's this strong...just what did he have to put up with here?'

Vegeta was finding himself getting extremely aggravated with missing constantly. 'Bastard...!' Catching Kakarot off guard for a slight second was enough as the man was in his thoughts. Vegeta rendered Kakarot a quick one to the stomach.

Kakarot didn't budge much from the strike, though it slowed him down for a moment and he felt a sting. Vegeta came forward with his hands, in attempt to blast Kakarot at point blank range. Vegeta poured a decent amount of energy into this as well, seeing from his standpoint the entire wave of energy engulfing Kakarot's body.

Vegeta remained there, chuckling softly. "You should know not to play with me, clown..."

"So far it's not failing me..." Kakarot said from behind. He was lowering himself to Vegeta's altitude from above, with his arms folded.

Vegeta turned around immediately. Not one scratch was visible on Kakarot's clothes. "H-How...?" Kakarot only had a cocky grin on his face. This in itself was beginning to piss Vegeta off. "Kakarot...!"

"Hehehehe..." Kakarot uncrossed his arms. He was experiencing some type of high with this new power he had managed to gain thanks to his training with Ox in the gravity chamber. And he was loving the fact that Vegeta wasn't pleased. "Is that the best you got?"

Kakarot was just about seconds away from drawing the last straw. In a near fit of rage, Vegeta started sending his arms flying, firing off hundreds of ki attacks at once. Kakarot was prepared and took off directly for Vegeta. No matter in what direction Vegeta seemed to send the attacks, Kakarot would just spin and move around them all.

Rushing through them all untouched, Kakarot rendered Vegeta a hard haymaker square in the jaw. Vegeta was sent pushed back away for dozens of yards per second. Kakarot didn't slow down there and sped up at Vegeta. Making his way just a few inches above him, Kakarot did what Vegeta couldn't earlier and blasted him at point blank range.

Vegeta crashed right in the middle of the island that the two were flying on. Kakarot kept his eyes down below, simply watching. He knew that a simple blast like that didn't so significant damage, although he made sure of it that it hurt.

Vegeta came up from a small crater below. Once on his foot, he looked straight up for Kakarot. "You won't get away with that!"

"I'm going to get away with a lot of things in this fight."

Vegeta growled. "HOW DARE YOU!"

Kakarot had a look of great anticipation once Vegeta hopped down from below, his fists cocked back. He figured why not stick with having fun for a little bit.

* * *

"OOOF!"

Zarbon was sent sliding through the ground. Even while transformed, this scarred earthling he was facing seemed to be in a different league.

"You're starting to bore me," Yamcha commented. He had his hand over his wide-open mouth, pretending to yawn.

Tien sighed. Yamcha usually tended to play around when the fight was going his way. "Why don't you just get it over with already?"

"I'm truly starting to take your offer on that," Freeza said. He too was getting bored. No longer did he have any men to search for the Dragon Balls and Zarbon seemed like he wouldn't be getting over on them anytime soon.

Freeza, finally deciding to take get the job done himself, hopped out of his hoverchair. Zarbon, still on the ground, looked up to Freeza. "S-Sire..." Zarbon looked absolutely pathetic. He had scratches all over his body and his clothes were torn. His repulsive face was full of nothing but dirt.

"My main purpose for being here in the first place was to accumulate the Dragon Balls in hopes of obtaining immortality. Knowing Vegeta's still out there searching is starting to get on my nerves. Hell knows how many he could have obtained by now."

"You shouldn't worry about him," Yamcha said. "He's a goner now."

"Hm?" Freeza's tail started to wag side to side, obviously somewhat interested as to why Yamcha would say such a thing. "What could you possibly be insinuating?" Yamcha just grinned. Freeza's shoulders lowered a bit. "Ah, I see. So that's one problem less I have to worry about dealing with."

Zarbon got back up on his two feet. "Sire, let m-"

Freeza placed his right hand over his left shoulder, finger pointed directly at Zarbon. "I would have had better luck calling the Ginyu Force in to take care of this situation for me. They would have been perfect for the job. Had you not been such an insolent fool and realized that their power is far superior to that of yours, you'd be out hunting for the dragon balls instead of digging yourself to your inevitable grave." Having finished his say, he blasted Zarbon right through the chest.

Ox, Chaotzu, and Yamcha were taken aback at this. Zarbon was lifted off his feet and placed on his back, where he would spend the rest of his moments choking on his own blood. "W-What kind of monster are you?" Yamcha was starting to get nervous.

"That man has been loyal to me for over 2 decades. Every little thing I ordered him to do, he did it for me. He and the other simple minded fools look up to me as if I am a god among pests. I induce complete fear in them with every stare I give. One simple word and their boots began to tremble."

"So...?" Yamcha asked.

"Heh. So?" Freeza chuckled. "I can kill him without a second thought. Imagine what I can do to simple strangers like yourselves..."

Chaotzu and Tien made it over by Yamcha's side. Ox was directly above them all in the air. "Guys..." Tien took a glimpse at every single one of them. "We need to go all out."

"Already?" Yamcha asked.

"You've had your warm-up," Tien responded. "Besides, don't you feel his power? We practically have no other choice."

"So we go all out..." Yamcha crouched down.

'I see...they're finally going to reveal their true strength...' Freeza clicked his scouter just in time for them as they all began to power up.

The moment each of their auras flared in unison, the entire atmosphere in that current area was getting somewhat dangerous. The waves all blew strong nearby and the ground was shaking dearly.

Even though Freeza wasn't phased by this at the very least, he wondered how simple earthlings managed to obtain such power. 'What kind of earthlings are they...?' Freeza went over their powers.

60,000

85,000

90,000

100,000

All of them, having reached their max, calmed down. "Here it is." Tien got into his fighting stance. "LET'S GO!"

Freeza was going into this completely cold, but he knew he could hold his own regardless. The four came at him all at once. As they came at him, both Chaotzu and Ox switched places. Freeza saw the first attack coming and blocked Chaotzu's oncoming fist with the use of his forearm. Ox tried to give him a direct blow to the chest but was stopped by Freeza's other free hand.

Tien and Yamcha cocked their legs, hoping they'd be able to strike Freeza directly in the gut simultaneously. Freeza rose both of his legs, blocking their kicks with his knees.

"A-Ah...?" All of them couldn't believe it.

"How...?" was all Chaotzu could mouth.

Here, Freeza seemed to block all four attacks with his arms and legs. Everyone wondered just how was he still able to stand. "My tail does quite come in handy sometimes." The four took a peek behind Freeza, seeing that the man's tail was the very thing to keep him on balance. "HAH!" Letting out a kiai shout, the four were all blown away a couple ten yards.

Freeza placed his foot back down on the ground, now no longer needing to use it to remain standing. Freeza himself didn't even get a chance to power up a bit. He was going into this handicap battle totally cold. While not a fighting expertise himself, Freeza even knew that could stir the fight up a bit more than needed.

"W-What power..."

"Little do you know that you fools are only getting a glimpse of what I can do." Freeza chuckled. "Allow me to power up and show you."

* * *

"What exactly do you mean?" Kami questioned. Guru wasn't particularly being straightforward enough and this lead Kami confused.

"I was hoping you'd be able to catch my drift," Guru responded. "But I'll be very straightforward with you." Kami made sure to listen to the man carefully. "Fate, which is the thing I tend to stick by. If the universe feels like something should happen, then it must be."

Kami nodded, beginning to understand a little bit more.

"Let me give you an example. Think of our current predicament. If fate wanted us all dead at the hands of an evildoer, then so be it. We are able to do everything in our power to prevent such a thing from happening, but if it ends a certain way, then that is how it was meant to end."

"So you believe that you should have been dead?" Kami asked. Guru simply nodded in response. "But that makes no sense. With all due respect, then that would mean you were meant to still be alive. Right now you are, so be it."

Guru smiled. "You make a very good point." Guru then sighed. "I truly can't stump that. As much as people commend me for being a wise person, you are very well within my league." Guru then walked over to Kami. "Truth be told, I do love my children. Every single Namekian you see out there are the ones I had to repopulate. They each look up to me."

"Yes, they do."

"While my time at life may not be up just yet...my time as the Grand Elder has surely come to an end. I can no longer be the Grand Elder with this physique."

"So you're going to step down from your position?"

Guru nodded. "As much as I would love to continue to see this world grow, I must move on somehow."

"But there is no other way."

"And that's where you're wrong," Guru corrected Kami. "You managed to rid the evil part of you, which manifested into its very own entity."

"That is true," Kami told Guru.

"So you are still able to merge back into one with that being."

"Yes," Kami responded. "He is me after all."

Guru smiled. "Did you know that Namekians had the ability to merge into one person at all?"

And with that question, Kami knew exactly where Guru was trying to go with him.

"What could they be talking about in there?" Many of the Namekians were all speaking to one another. Most were deeply worried about their current predicament as others were wondering just what Kami and Guru could have been conversating.

"This is getting worse..." one of the Namekians mumbled. Every now and then they could feel a shockwave from afar, which happened to stir up their area even a little. This was a sign that the fighting wasn't going to stop, nor would it be anytime soon.

"Look!" one of the children pointed up.

Many turned around to turn their eyes to Kami and Guru. Everyone had already witnessed the transformation of Kami back into his younger years, though when they saw Guru...all were speechless.

He was nowhere near as obese as he was before, though he was still very tall in stature with a slightly ripped physique, towering over Kami when they were nearby. His bright, green skin glowed. Only some of the elders got to see him when he was younger, though even then Guru never looked this healthy.

They were simply mesmerized by his current look.

"My children..." Guru spoke. "I have an important announcement to make."

* * *

I appreciate the feedback I've been getting. Shout out to K47, The Real Kakarotto, and Dang-a-lang. If you haven't, check out the latter's stories. He never asked for a shout out, but I feel that he deserves one. They're good. I'll see you guys soon!


	40. Kakarot & Freeza's Brutality

"GRAHHHH!"

"Heh." Kakarot dodged every blast that was directed at him. The two had been fighting for a little while now and Kakarot still seemed to be playing with him. Vegeta was getting extremely put off thanks to being mocked by a lower-class Saiyan. And the ever-growing anger caused him to fight in a much more sloppy manner.

Kakarot dashed down, directly where Vegeta was. Just like before, every ki attack launched for him didn't do as much as graze a piece of apparel. Kakarot rammed the top of his head into Vegeta's forehead, having him slide through Namek's bright blue, grass.

Kakarot touched down on his two feet from above, landing slowly with his fists on his hip, looking on to Vegeta. "You are the Prince of All Saiyans...right?"

Vegeta was clutching his forehead, which was leaking blood. The insane throbbing induced by Kakarot's head made of steel began to frustrate him. Vegeta managed to get back on his two feet, seething. "FUCK YOU!" With his other hand, Vegeta shot a wave of ki.

Kakarot hopped off to the side, dodging it. He looked behind himself, watching as the blast of energy continued flying, having missed its target. Once the attack struck a mountain from afar and had hundreds of rocks crash onto the ground, Kakarot looked back over to Vegeta. "You're really trying, aren't you?"

"What the hell makes you think I wouldn't?"

"Oh..." Kakarot frowned. "I thought we were just warming up."

"Excuse me?"

"So it's been confirmed... I have won this battle." Kakarot clenched his fists and tensed his body prior to letting out a kiai shout. The pressure of his energy shout had the winds increase speeds by tenfold.

Vegeta had to stand his ground by planting his feet into the grass due to the sheer power. "H-How..." Vegeta couldn't believe what he was sensing. 'Kakarot's nowhere near as powerful as Freeza...yet...he's in a league of his own.' The Saiyan of higher status truly had no words for what was currently transpiring before his eyes. 'Could he be...?'

"Yah!" Kakarot rushed in on Vegeta-no warning. Like before, he had sent a haymaker. This unlike the other was much more powerful and nearly broke Vegeta's jaw on impact. The Saiyan was sent flying right off the ground. The moment Vegeta's back crashed into a mountain, Kakarot was there to ram his fist into his gut.

Vegeta's head leaned forward as he spit out saliva involuntarily. Kakarot grinned and punched Vegeta square in the face, smashing the back of his head into the mountain, which now had one giant crack at the bottom of it. "I'm going to punish you now." Kakarot hopped back, forming disparity between the two.

Vegeta, being stuck to the wall, was hoping to find a way in escaping, though at the same time the excruciating pain he was feeling from those strikes he had been rendered prevented him from detaching himself all the wall in just time. Before he could break free, five rings of ki came out of nowhere. Two attached themselves tightly around Vegeta's wrists, with two others against his ankles. The fifth and final one was directly around his neck.

Once Kakarot saw Vegeta trying to break loose and only resulting in staying glued to the wall, he walked over to Vegeta. "Now do you see? All I ever wanted to do was prove that I could beat you on my own and I've finally achieved that goal."

"Grr...!" Vegeta was moving his hands and feet, but to no avail, he simply could not leave. No matter how much he tried to break loose, he simply couldn't get himself free. Seeing how making a pointless attempt to disconnect himself from the wall wasn't going to go anywhere, Vegeta scowled at Kakarot and followed with an insult. "To hell with you..." He spat.

Kakarot moved his head, just barely missing Vegeta's attempt at spitting on him. "Pfft..." Kakarot rose his hand. They were not closed, yet wide open. He had his five fingers out, the palm of his hand revealed. "A prince yet nobody bothered to teach you any proper manners." Kakarot didn't hold anything back and smacked Vegeta directly across the face.

Vegeta didn't make any noise once Kakaro'ts hand came into contact and took the hit. The entire right side of his face was only visible to Kakarot, who corrected Vegeta by having the Saiyan look him in the eyes. On Vegeta's right cheek, there was red print on his face that just seemed to get redder and redder, taking the color of a tomato. Vegeta's face was numb at this point, though he still managed to growl at Kakarot. "You...!"

"I didn't think I'd make it out of that planet alive. Hell, I was lucky to have a senzu to myself." Even speaking on the matter, Kakarot started to look back on those moments when Vegeta sent a hole right through his chest, showing no remorse either. Those memories coming back to him, Kakarot found himself getting angry. "I'm going to break you down piece by piece and make you beg before I kill you." Giving no warning, Kakarot drove his knee into Vegeta's pelvis, eliciting a painful reaction. Even though Vegeta tried his best to hide the pain, a squeal still found its way to come from his throat. "I won't stop until I'm satisfied either..."

Vegeta could tell by the look in Kakarot's eyes that he was out for blood. Being a Saiyan himself, he knew what it was like to be in those moments, where nothing but anger consumed you and you just had the feeling of tearing your opponents head off then and there. But at the same time, he could tell Kakarot seemed to be holding back a lot of antagonism towards him still. Now that it was the perfect chance for Kakarot to let it all the suppressed animosity out, Vegeta knew he had to prepare himself for the worst beating of his life.

* * *

"You earthlings aren't that bad!" While Kakarot was dealing with Vegeta, Freeza was having a bit of fun toying with those facing him head-on at once. "Hahaha!" All of them were moving at such rapid rates, but Freeza was simply too fast for the lot.

Chaotzu and Tien flew backward from Freeza, ascending into the sky as well with a bright yellow beam of energy being charged in the index fingers that they had pointed for their target. "DODON-PA!" they both shouted in unison.

Yamcha and Ox moved out of the way, making sure to let the attacks hit Freeza head on. Said tyrant smacked away both of the attacks at once, Tien's being deflected with a single flick of the hand, and Chaotzu's being swatted away with his tail. "Let's see who'd like to have some real fun." Freeza took a glance at each of his options, figuring out who he wanted to pick first. Once he had his eyes set on who he wanted to toy with for a bit, he vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Stay on your toes!" Tien warned everyone.

Freeza appeared right behind the best friend of the man who just happened to warn everybody. The little guy Chaotzu didn't have any idea where his opponent was until it was far too late. Freeza rammed the tip of his elbow atop Chaotzu's head, sending him crashing into the ground.

The black hat Chaotzu had on fell off and floated over to the ground. Tien made an attempt to punch Freeza from the side, though his arm was wrapped under Freeza's armpit. Freeza gave Tien a quick karate chop to the throat before kicking elbowing him directly in the chest.

Tien clutched both his chest and throat once he was hit, gasping wheezing for air with his pupils dilating quickly. Freeza moved so swiftly that Tien didn't see either of the two strikes coming. Raising his finger, Freeza was ready to give the final blow: a finger through the third eye.

"No, you don't!" Yamcha and Ox came from below.

Freeza smacked Tien away with his tail and gave a sigh, placing his attention on the two coming right for him. Freeza made sure to patiently wait for them both to near him. Timing their movements perfectly, Freeza ducked under their fists. Yamcha and Ox realized that they happened to miss when it was all too late. Freeza came back up, swinging his elbows, which connected with the chins of Ox and Yamcha.

Before they could end up soaring into the clouds, Freeza grabbed them both by their pant leg and slung them down into the ground below him. Yamcha landed hard next to Chaotzu as Ox did to Tien. "Ohohohohoh..." Freeza chuckled. "Even after all of that, you fools are audacious enough to come back for more?"

"I was hoping to be able to save this for later..." Tien still had a deep feeling in his throat and chest and was barely able to speak coherently, but he knew he couldn't simply stand down. "This is it!" A red aura covered his entire body. "KAIO-KEN!"

PIPIPIPIPI

"Eh? 180,000?" Next thing Freeza knew, everyone else was using the same technique, all except for Ox of course, who still joined in on the fight. Out of all things to come, Freeza wasn't expecting this...and it was much harder to contain than before.

This time Freeza had to make sure that he was on his feet for this one. 'Tch...! I need to get these bastards off me...' Waiting for the perfect chance, Freeza blocked Ox's punch with his elbow and quickly smacked the boy away using his tail.

"YAHHH!" Both Yamcha and Tien rendered Freeza a knee to the stomach as Chaotzu punched him directly in the face. Freeza wasn't hurt at all by those hits, but he sure as hell felt a few stings. He smacked Chaotzu in the face and had the little guy flying through the air like a ragdoll

Tien hissed and joined Yamcha in an attempt to punch Freeza, which totally did not hit their target. This gave Freeza an opening and being Freeza, he had to take advantage. Appearing behind the two, he grabbed them by their heads and rammed them together. Tien and Yamcha had the Kaio-Ken knocked out of them before they got an elbow to the back.

Freeza then stuck his hand, getting a hunch that someone was coming behind him. It was Ox, who was going far too fast. Because of this, he wasn't able to stop at the proper time and found himself flying directly into the back of Freeza's fist. The boy fell down on his two feet, clutching his nose that was leaking blood.

He looked up at Freeza, his vision blurry. While in pain, at the same time the boy was amazed, simply amazed. 'My dad is nothing compared to him...' Just having to face this type of strength, Ox was beginning to have his own doubts about being able to take Freeza out.

"You all are really testing me," Freeza said with a low growl. "You are testing me just as much as you are wasting my time, too. It's best I kill you all before this gets out of hand."

Chaotzu looked up, seeing Freeza's back was facing him. He himself had trained his ass off just as much as Tien and Yamcha did. All of them pushed their own limits while fighting in the Gravity Chamber. Doing all of that just to come to a dead end and die here was completely out of the question. Just maybe...maybe Chaotzu needed to push his limits a bit further.

As it would take effect, a bright, red fume started to emit itself from Chaotzu's body. Though unlike the weaker versions, this one was a far deeper red and much more heated. Chaotzu felt the veins in his skin getting ready to burst as well as his skin feeling like they were going to peel off due to the sheer heat of this powerful technique. Even still...he wasn't just going to give up. "Kaio-Ken...times...TEN!"

PIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"AH?" Freeza flinched when his scouter blew up on the spot.

"I got him!" Chaotzu stuck his hands out. With the Kaio-Ken, Chaotzu figured that it would be able to enhance his telekinetic powers as well. Just as he thought, he was right and had Freeza frozen in place momentarily.

"E-Excuse me?" Freeza was going to turn his head. He then paused. 'Wait...' He found himself unable to move. "Y-YOU!"

"NOW!" Chaotzu said.

"You heard him!" Yamcha yelled.

Ox knew anything he did at this point wouldn't do any effect onto Freeza, so he simply remained in the back-for now.

"KAIO-KEN TIMES FOUR!" Both Tien and Yamcha shouted at once. The both of them knew just how much power they needed in able to overcome Freeza's power. And with their combined strengths, they didn't need to use a higher level of Kaio-Ken.

"Kame..." Yamcha started to charge his own attack. "Hame..."

Tien clapped his hands together, getting ready to execute his own attack. "KIKO..."

"HA!" Yamcha poured the energy he used for this attack, hoping to do away with this overpowered mutant.

"HOOOO!" Tien let his go just after Yamcha launched his attack, having faith that it would come to an end as well.

Freeza's eyes went wide. Two powerful attacks were coming right for him. 'N-No...!'

BOOM!

Both Yamcha and Tien stopped using Kaio-Ken the moment their attacks seem to make contact. Each of them knew that it was important to not use up too much, especially against somebody like Freeza.

"D-Did you do it?" Ox wiped the remaining blood from his nose, all of which was now beginning to finally dry up.

"I hope he's a goner with that attack..." Tien said. Using that type of power had his muscles aching a bit, being fatigued as well.

"That took a lot out of me," Yamcha spoke with a big sigh. "We finally don't have to worry about him anymore."

"We need to go find Kami," Tien said.

"You're right," Yamcha said. He and Tien ascended off into the sky.

"Guys..." Ox was the only person that didn't think it being done there. He was on foot, his head changing directions every few seconds. "Where's Chaotzu?"

"Huh?" Tien and Yamcha both took a few glimpses around the area, though they only wound up with the same result as Ox. This was when they began to get worried.

"Chaotzu!" Tien yelled.

"Looking for him?"

Everyone looked up in the sky. Freeza could be seen, holding Chaotzu by his head with both hands. "You fools truly almost had me..." Freeza was just coming from under the water, a quite a few bruises on his body. Even though he may have looked physically hurt, with his armor having been blown to bits, his sinister smile gave it all away: he wasn't worried in the slightest. "One shouldn't assume it to be over to abruptly.." With a quick flash of anger, he slung Chaotzu down into the ground.

"Chaotzu!" Tien began to descend down as quickly as possible in aid for his friend. As he came down, a blast from Freeza came shooting by, grazing his chest. Tien came to a stop and watched the blast continue on ahead afar. He looked at his chest, which had a long line of blood on it, then he looked over to Freeza, who still had his hands in the sky. Tien got the message and remained stationary in the air.

Freeza slowly descended down back onto the earth. "It would appear that I never got the proper chance to introduce myself." Freeza placed his left foot ahead of his right and moved his left arm behind his back with the palm of his hand against his belly. With that stance, he gave a bow to everyone before him.. "You see...as you should know by now, I am Freeza-Lord Freeza. I am the one that calls the shots across all parts of the universe. This is my kingdom, you see?"

"As if we didn't know that," Ox said.

"Of course the Saiyan would be the one to get smart with me." Freeza gave off a little laugh. "While you know of me, I know that none of you pests know about me. Are any of you even aware that I am able to transform?"

"Say what...!?"

"You mean...get stronger?" Yamcha asked.

"Who would have it any other way?" Freeza asked rhetorically.

"This monster is worse than I thought..." Tien growled.

"Don't get too scared now. I'm sure with your fighting skills, you'll be able to last a max of 3 minutes against me."

"Stop bluffing!" Yamcha called out. "You really think you'd have us scared with that?"

"Ohohohohohoho!"

Tien had just about the opposite mind of thought than Yamcha. Unlike said person, Tien knew that Freeza wasn't bluffing. Simply studying his body language and the way he acted. "Yamcha...He's not messing around, man..."

Yamcha's head jerked over to his fighting partner. "C'mon! You're joking, right? There's no way this guy could have a transformation. This guy is simply too strong!" The simple thought of someone like Freeza being able to transform and gain even more power just had to be bullshit. They were putting up with enough as it was and he didn't know if they'd be able to handle that much more trouble...especially coming from someone as demonical as the person they were currently facing.

Freeza laughed. "Then allow me to show you..."

* * *

"As you all know of our current situation, in the middle of it all, it just so happens to be that Kami granted me my youth back." Everyone remained quiet, still listening to their elder speak before them. "But what none of you knew was that mere seconds before the wish was granted, I was supposed to die."

That's when a gasp or two could be heard. Some people couldn't believe it, although others could. Guru was very high up in age and the fact that many of his children happened to be dying at once didn't take much of a good effect upon him.

"It became apparent that my time as the Grand Elder has now come to an end. While I am still fully capable of looking before you all as your Grand Elder, I know it simply is not my time to continue being it."

"But we need you in these times!" One of the Namekians called out. A few murmurs of agreements started to go on about. At a time like this, many Namekians (mostly young ones), felt that having someone like Guru as their guide was the best way to ensure survival. Though on the other hand, a lot of the elders were getting what Guru was saying.

"Silence my children." Those simple three words had to be said once and everyone zipped their lips and had their attention back to Guru. "This is simply as it is." He looked over all the Namekians before them. "The son of Katats and myself have come to an agreement. From when he gets back on earth, he will use his own Dragon Balls to bring everyone lost here back to life. And from there on, Moori will be the one next in line to be the Grand Elder."

"But what about you, Grand Elder? Where will you be?"

"That's exactly what I'm about to show each of you..." Guru looked over to Kami.

"They're going to do assimilation...!" Someone blurted out.

Many began to speak now. Most of them couldn't believe it, though. They would each have to sit back and simply watch and wait to see what was to come.

* * *

Earlier on Yamcha was truly thinking that Freeza had given them a bluff. He tried to convince himself that it was a trick just to get them get them to fret over more than what was truly necessary. It wasn't until the moment that Freeza started to power up. Then...Yamcha came to reality.

Freeza looked the same, albeit he was much larger in size. Put together 10 versions of him in his first form and that would be Freeza right now. There was anxiety induced into Yamcha, Tien, and even Ox. Chaotzu couldn't do anything as Freeza had already knocked him out of consciousness.

Freeza quickly examined over the remaining three opposers of his. Just with a quick observation, he was figuring out just who would be the first one to witness his raw power first hand. Having gotten his pick, Freeza took off.

Yamcha and Tien immediately got on guard, not knowing what to expect with such speed heading towards them. Much to their dismay, Freeza shot by right passed them.

"Wha-"

"Kakarot's kid!" Yamcha exclaimed.

"Hahahaha!" Freeza covered Ox's entire face with his large hands. He shot off into the sky with the boy, who was doing his best to get away from Freeza's hold. Freeza chuckled, keeping his grip tight. "Let's teach the Saiyan brat some manners, shall we?" Freeza's menacing chuckle sent chills down everyone's spines, especially the boy who was claimed as the current victim. Loosening his grip, he let Ox go.

As soon as Ox was free, he attacked Freeza head on. He didn't realize that it was a major mistake until it was too late as Freeza caught ahold of Ox's tiny fist. "Are you that stupid? Or is it just inexperience on the battlefield?" Freeza tightened his grip.

"G-GRAH..." Ox was grinding his teeth. Second by second, Freeza applied more and more pressure onto the boy's fists. He didn't know if his body would be able to withstand anymore before it suddenly went...

SNAP!

Ox's eyes shot open. Having heard it himself, he knew that his entire hand had been crushed. Before the pain could come to him, Freeza punched him cleanly across the face, breaking his jaw in the process. Ox came crashing down hard to the ground, sliding in the rough grass.

"OX!" Yamcha and Tien rushed off for him.

Freeza turned around and launched off a tiny ball of ki. Closing his fists, the attack exploded prematurely. Being so close to it, Yamcha and Tien came to a stop. Any closer and they'd be dead themselves.

Freeza put his attention back at Ox, who was back on his feet, clutching his jaw. While it was a hell of a lot of pain, Ox snapped his jaw back into place and readied to resume the fight. Freeza grinned and punched the boy right in the ribs, not giving him a break. "OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Freeza took pleasure in hearing more bones breaking. He raised both of his fists and slammed them on the kid's back.

The impact of hitting the ground so hard caused Ox to bounce up immediately. Freeza was right on him and planted his giant foot on the kid's back, making sure he stuck there. Ox made noises and cries of pain, which all sounded peculiar thanks to the current condition of his jaw.

Freeza applied further pressure on the kid's back, making sure he broke a few more bones. "Look at the boy...barely able to withstand me." He took a look back at the others. "Aren't you going to help him?"

"KAIO-KEN TIMES 10!" Yamcha and Tien shot off for Freeza. The two had to push their own limits to try and resuce their ally. By any means necessary, they all had to come out alive.

* * *

"You had enough yet?" Kakarot seemed out of breath, sweating a bit. By his waist side, his knuckles were leaking blood and shaking at the same time.

Vegeta was still stuck to the wall, looking like a complete mess. Said Saiayn didn't have any armor left and his face was left practically unrecognizable. Kakarot didn't hold anything back at all, constantly beating on Vegeta without any form of remorse. Vegeta, on the other side of things, was practically powerless to do anything at all. He had his head hanging down, though the ring of ki kept it at bay. Dozing in and out of consciousness, he could no longer feel the pain that was being exerted onto him. His entire body was numb.

And Kakarot noticed that. "No worries. I'm just going to end you right now..."

Vegeta, with his eyes closed, could feel a purple illumination. No doubt it was meant to end him for good. Vegeta expected to be hit any time now. Regardless if it was going to kill him or not, he was prepared. He expected a few more second and then he would finally be done with. But all of a sudden, simple moments of preparation turned into those of confusion. He was yet to receive anything from Kakarot.

Opening his purple, swollen eyes the best he could, Vegeta could see that Kakarot was no longer in his presence. "W-Wha..." Vegeta looked up, seeing Kakarot had taken off. "What...the hell..." Vegeta sure as hell did have questions for why Kakarot suddenly left, though he was far too exhausted and beaten to question it.

Kakarot was zooming through the air. The moment he felt Ox's power dropping, he knew he had to immediately drop everything he was doing and took off for his own son's aid. "Hang in there, boy..."

* * *

"YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"

Tien and Yamcha were both going all out when it came to fighting Freeza. Freeza made a swing for Tien, but he moved out of the way just in time.

"Huh?"

Yamcha took advantage of an opening and decked Freeza in the cheek. Tien kneed Freeza on the side of his neck, coming from behind. Freeza stumbled back a bit, though keeping his balance. "Yamcha!" Tien yelled. "Cover your eyes!"

"You don't have to tell me twice, man!" He did directly as told.

"TAIYOKEN!"

A bright flash of light enveloped the entire island. Yamcha was ready and had his eyes closed, making sure he wasn't to be temporarily blinded by Tien's technique. Freeza, being right next to Tien, took the light head on.

"I've got him now!" Yamcha powered up, his red Kaio-Ken aura flaring. "KAME...HAME..."

"Rah!" Tien gut-checked Freeza, making sure he dropped his guard.

"HAAA!"

Freeza found himself coughing a little bit after taking that strike from Tien. Hunched over and holding his stomach, he took a look over to the attack coming his way. Catching it at the last moment, he let out a gasp before being hit directly.

No explosions happened or anything. The ki wave in itself surrounded Freeza's entire being. Yamcha poured just as much energy as he possibly could have at the moment. He reverted back to his base form as the wave of ki slowly started to die out. Yamcha could bearly speak without being able to ctach his breath.. "Pant...pant...T-Tien..."

"Pant...pant..." Tien was very well fatigued, too.

"I've just about had enough of you all!" Freeza yelled. Very well alive he was indeed. Not very happy he was as well. That attack in itself had done a bit of damage and he felt every last bit of it. Luckily for him, he was very durable. "I'm going to kill you all in a moment's notice!"

"Consider that prevented!" Kakarot shot down right in the middle of the battlefield. Upon landing, he stood up and looked over at Freeza. "It would appear that you've been having more problems than normal."

"Hm? Who are you?"

Kakarot could feel the overwhelming power coming from Freeza. He already knew that he stood no chance against the man, though at the current moment he truly didn't see any other way. Together just maybe...maybe they'd be able to end Freeza.

Looking over this newcomer, Freeza felt something insanely familiar about him. 'This guy...I've seen him before.'

"It's no use trying to fight him, Kakarot!" Yamcha called out. "He's too strong."

Freeza was alerted by that name. "So you're another Saiyan..." Freeza had finally figured it all out. 'He looks just like Saiyan who resisted until the end...when I destroyed planet Vegeta.'

"And you must be Freeza..." Kakarot said. "Heh. Can't say I'm impressed..."

"Of course...just another cocky Saiyan." Freeza calmed himself down and wiped all the dust he collected from his shoulders as well as any other part of his upper body. "I don't have any problems killing you either."

Kakarot wasn't too entirely worried for Freeza at the moment, fretting more for his own kid. He looked around until he eventually found Ox, who was lying on the ground as if he was already dead. All of the clothing he had on, or lack thereof, didn't seem to last very well at all.. 'His energy is faint...' Kakarot walked over to him.

"Yes...you may want to give him your dear pleasantries before he dies."

Kakarot completely ignored Freeza's comment and kneeled down. 'What the hell did he do to you, boy...?' He turned Ox around. Yet all he could do was let out a small sigh. Practically every bone in the boy's body was broken.

Kakarot pulled out a little patch, which barely contained any senzus left. He pulled out one and forced it into his son's mouth.

Freeza just observed. A bit curious as to what Kakarot could be doing, he watched as the boy was being force fed the senzu and swallowed it. Kakarot noticed that his son's jaw was out of place and quickly snapped it back in before the senzu took any effect.

He stood up and backed away from the boy now, allowing him his very own space. Ox got off the ground and back on his two feet. "Thanks, dad."

"What the...?" Freeza watched Kakarot place the pouch back into his armor. "That brat was dead for sure."

Just one look at Freeza and Ox found himself getting very furious. "You..."

From the dirty, animalistic glare Freeza was getting from a simple child, he could see that he was furious. Did Freeza have a reason to be worried? He personally didn't think so at all...

* * *

Kami and Guru had managed to complete the assimilation, which didn't take long at all. When Guru's conscious entered Kami's body, that was it. There was no longer two Namekians before them, though rather just one.

People were in total shock. Guru wasn't even there anymore. And as for Kami...he just stood there. He had taken in a lot in a simple moment's notice. All the information that Guru retained, he now had. Not to mention, the dramatic increase in power. He never felt anything like this before. All the knowledge...the memories...the wisdom...the strength...it was there. They all came together as one, which made the person one.

Kami took one look down at all of the Namekians. Looking at each and every one of them. For Guru, seeing his children all down below with their faith installed in him at warmed his heart. As for Kami, the man controlling the body, he truly felt like he belonged here. Not being able to control his emotions, he smiled at all of them. "Guru gives his thanks...to all of you." Focusing on the main objective at hand, Kami then took off.

No words were said by anyone.

Just silence.

Kami continued his flight, going at speeds he never thought possible before. He took a look at his arms, which were so bright. The man was never used to this look, nonetheless this feeling. It had been years and it felt like he was old forever. He couldn't move as much anymore.

But now...it was different.

Power-levels

Chaotzu: 60,000. (Kaio-Ken): 120,000. (Kaio-KenX10): 600,000.

Tien: 85,000. (Kaio-KenX4): 340,000. (425,000).

Yamcha: 90,000. (Kaio-KenX4): 360,000. (450,000).

Ox: 100,000

Vegeta: 169,000

Kakarot: 200,000

Freeza (First Form): 530,000. (Second Form): 1,060,000


	41. A Deal is Made

"I truly have no idea how you managed to bring him back to proper health so quickly..." Freeza had his eyes on the stern looking boy. "And honestly, I don't care. Just know I won't allow such a thing to happen again during the rest of this fight." Freeza grinned.

Kakarot simply stood there, his son by his side. He could feel his son's sure growth in power, mainly thanks to all those injuries he endured with his fight with Freeza. He could feel just how strong Freeza was. Compared to him, Kakarot was nothing. But maybe, just maybe they'd come out with a win with the extra help.

"I've been holding back just a bit of power in this form." Freeza raised the palm of his hand, which faced the sky. "Let me show you." The very first sign of Freeza's extreme power started to be shown by the ground shaking and breaking off into pieces.

Kakarot and the others all had a hard time standing ground. "Careful now!" Tien warned.

"Hmp!"

A loud explosion emitted from Freeza's aura itself. Everyone had to ascend high into the sky just to avoid the grand explosion. It was a bright white light for just a moment before it was revealed what happened to the island, at least the rest of it. Freeza stood on one long, circular pillar of rock of what used to be part of a small island.

"W-What power!" Kakarot exclaimed. "How can one man be so powerful...?"

Freeza just looked up at everyone. "Who will be the first to go for sure?"

Kakarot shook his head. "You all have to take him on as one!"

Everyone came to this realization and began to power up. Tien, Chaotzu, and Yamcha were each converting into their Kaio-Ken state. Kakarot had already been warmed up thanks to his fight with Vegeta. And as for Ox...he was the one showing the great jump in power.

"YAHHHHH!" Ox, in the middle of the air, was yelling out loud. His blue aura was enlightened and much larger than everyone else. Once everyone was ready to commence battle, he was the first to take off. "RAH!"

Chaotzu, Tien, and Yamcha followed immediately after. All four were going head-on with Freeza as they had done before. Kakarot was still hovering in the sky, watching his son fight alongside the earthlings. 'I-is my son that strong...?' Kakarot couldn't believe what he was sensing from Ox. Yes, the boy was much weaker than Freeza was at the current moment, but from what he was feeling, Ox was the strongest one of everyone else.

Kakarot knew that this current time of being astonished by the power of a five-year-old was not appropriate. He had to take care of Freeza, so he was going to focus on the task at hand. Instead of going for Freeza head on like everyone else, he started to charge ki in his palm.

Freeza was taking on all four of them yet again. He found it easy to handle the three adult earthlings, though the Half-breed was a different topic. While blocking multiple kicks and punches coming from all angles at once, Freeza was thinking to himself.

'This boy's attacks have gotten much more precise and ferocious compared to when I was fighting him before...' Freeza took a few glances at the young child, seeing how determined he was in taking him down. Freeza could only smile at how hard he was truly trying. It was at this moment he realized what this child was truly capable of. 'He's a Saiyan for sure...'

Using his long, thick tail, Freeza decided to take a swing. Yamcha and Chaotzu were both hit good and sent sliding to the side on impact. Tien had moved back a little, just barely dodging the strike. Going back at it, it was currently only him and Ox fighting head-on.

Kakarot had his hands placed above his head, charging a special attack of his. 'Alright...I gotta make it work...' He continued to pour even more ki into the palm of his hands. "Get the hell out of the way!" Kakarot yelled from afar. "Shinowa!"

Being alerted by Kakarot's sudden yell, everyone stopped, including Freeza. He took a look up into the sky, seeing an attack coming his way. "What the hell?"

Ox looked at Freeza, seeing that the man was distracted. Tien got out of the way, not wanting to be hit by the attack. Ox, on the other hand, decided to get a good hit in before he moved away as well. As hard as he could, he punched Freeza dead center in the liver.

Freeza was taken by surprise and doubled over. Ox looked back, seeing that the attack was getting extremely close. "Move, boy!" Kakarot warned him.

Ox's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. He launched himself away from Freeza, deciding to dive directly into the waters. As soon as he submerged himself inside, Freeza was hit and a loud explosion took place.

Kakarot and the others were all left wondering if Ox happened to survive or not. The circular looking rock that Freeza was standing on was there no more. It had been shattered into hundreds of pieces thanks to Kakarot's powerful attack.

But that wasn't what he wanted missing. Freeza was still there, his feet just inches above the rippling water. Kakarot's attack didn't appear to faze him at all. The only thing it managed to do was aggravate him further. Freeza let out a soft, deep breath. "You pests are truly starting to get on my nerves..."

Kakarot knew his attack wouldn't do much, but hell, he expected something at the very least. Seeing Freeza not even affected made him realize just how dangerous this man was.

"That didn't do anything to him at all," Yamcha pointed out. "What kind of freak is he?"

"A freak from hell..." Tien remarked.

"Hohohohoho. I must say, I appreciate the lovely comments." He stared over at each and every one of them. "Unfortunately it won't have you come out of this alive!" Freeza took off as fast as he could. The current of the waters all augmented due to Freeza's sudden flight.

Nobody was able to keep up with how fast Freeza was even moving. None of them knew just who was going to get attacked. They tried to sense out for Freeza, but none could sense. Ox was in the waters, looking up above.

"Where could he be?" Chaotzu asked.

Ox kept his eyes peeled, also making sure to feel out for Freeza's energy. The man zapped all around the place, making sure he wasn't able to be seen. Having finally caught an eye on Freeza, he was going to warn Chaotzu. "Behind you!"

"Huh?"

"HAH!" Freeza smashed his fists on Chaotzu's little head, nearly crushing the guy's skull. Chaotzu was sent crashing down into a body of water below.

"Chaotzu!" Tien yelled.

"Heh..." Freeza looked over to three eyes. "Your turn!" Freeza stuck his hand out and shot a non charged ki attack.

Tien had no time to protect himself and ended up getting hit dead on. The attack had so much pressure that he himself started to fall down into the water below. Both he and Chaotzu were knocked out.

"Go bring them to land right now!" Kakarot demanded his son.

Ox was still in the water, staying afloat. "Why?" He knew as well as any that his dad and Yamcha needed all the help they could possibly get at the current moment. Knowing that they were to be fighting alone for a short while against Freeza, Ox wasn't sure whether they'd still be alive when he had Chaotzu and Tien safely put down on a nearby island.

"Just do as I tell you, boy!" Kakarot barked.

Ox wasn't going to test his father's authority and did as he was told. He went over to get a hold of Chaotzu and Tien so he could bring them to a safe spot away from the battle.

"They didn't last long at all..." Freeza sighed. "You people are such fragile beings." He then smiled. "But look on the bright side. I won't have to deal with any of you for much longer and I'll be on my way to grant myself immortality."

"Tch! What kind of fool do you count me as?"

Freeza's maintained smile grew into a menacing one. "You're a Saiyan. And that's all I need to know." Without warning, Freeza just zapped out of sight. Yamcha and Kakarot were both equally left wondering just what they could manage to do against this guy.

And they both got their answer the moment they were simultaneously struck. And each both went crashing into the waters like their peers before them. Freeza couldn't help but stay with a smile on his face, all the enjoyment he was having. Of course, he never expected his day like this, nor did he ever plan on having intentions of taking care of all the trash for himself. "When I'm done with the two of you, I'll be sure to take care of the rest of trash that tried to oppose me." But Freeza had to admit: He loved displaying his sadistic nature.

* * *

As he flew over to where the battle surely was, Kami could feel this new power within him. He never thought of such an increase in strength when he started his assimilation with Guru. The main X-factor of his strength was the fact that they were young again for sure. Kami just knew that he had to take advantage.

Flying as quick as he could, Kami started to feel a faint power near his vicinity. From what he was feeling, it couldn't have been one of the Namekians. A little curious, he started heading over to that area.

Just moments after Kakarot's departure for Freeza, Vegeta found himself out of consciousness. Every once in a while, his eyes would open, only to flutter and seal tightly. He had no idea of just how long it would be before he was gone for good.

The Saiyan's eyes had shot open once more for a split second. As much as he wanted to, he simply couldn't keep his eyes open due to the ferocious beating he had received from his number one enemy.

Just before Vegeta could close his eyes and keep them shut for good, he felt a great power headed directly towards him. 'W-Who the hell is that?' Vegeta had his right eye half open and the right one shut. His vision was nothing but a blur, though from what he could tell, a green-skinned being was just before him. Without a doubt, it had to be a Namekian.

Kami had to look at Vegeta for a moment before he could see just who it was. Primarily it was hard for him to tell who this person was, due to the extreme injuries. But just by feeling his ki out, he figured quick.

"Saiyan..."

Vegeta coughed out a weak laugh. "N-...Namekian..." The words coming out of his mouth were raspy and low as if he had an extreme cold. Vegeta could barely speak in a coherent manner.

Thankfully, Kami's giant ears served a purpose. "Can't say I have much time to just chat with you."

"T-Then w-what...? You c-came to gloat...?"

Kami shook his head. "No. But I would like for you to realize one thing: No matter how much you repent, how much you say sorry, even just seconds before death...you will not be forgiven. You will inevitably go to hell. And for the actions you've caused in such a short time, the punishment just may be extreme." Kami started to step back. "You're the one to primarily give a bad name to your own people." Turing around, Kami was getting ready to make his leave.

"W...Wait...! Cough, cough!" Vegeta let out an obnoxious snuffle, building up saliva. What came out of his mouth was a mix of saliva and blood.

Kami stopped, deciding to hear him out. Even though Vegeta was evil, Kami was never as cold to just leave a man not be able to speak his piece before death. "What is it?"

"I-I'm not going to beg...but...I only have one request..."

Kami looked behind his shoulder, staring at the dazed Saiyan. He had a feeling he knew what it was, but he decided to let Vegeta finish.

"Lend me a bit of energy. N-Not...a lot, b-but...just enough..!"

Kami felt like yelling at the Saiyan out of impulse. He himself had a good bit of anger inside of him because of Vegeta's actions. He was the main reason why his trip to get to know his own world had failed miserably. But inside, he knew to remain calm. Also...Guru was the one to keep Kami at bay.

"And why should I?" Kami asked.

Vegeta chuckled. "W-Why...?"

Kami turned back around, facing Vegeta again. "Why should I?" he repeated. "Why should I lend energy to an evildoer such as yourself? I know people like you. You're only going to return to doing the same thing."

Vegeta shook his head. He knew he wasn't going to stop fighting, there was simply no denying that. But the plan in killing innocents around the world was off the table now. In his mind, he had only one purpose and he'd do what he needed until he managed to reach it. But he needed to stay alive.

"I-I won't...k-kill any of you earthlings anymore. H-hell...you won't see m-me...ever again..."

Kami sighed. He really didn't want to be the one at fault if Vegeta just went out there and ran an entire civilization extinct one more. But he was a forgiving person. He felt that some people had the chance to redeem themselves some way. But it was those treacherous acts that Vegeta had pulled once he landed. He couldn't just let someone like that go. No matter how much he'd like to see him do good, he felt like he couldn't.

"I can't...sorry..." Kami started to walk off.

Vegeta's eyes grew wide. If Kami was to leave right now, he'd be a goner sooner or later. The Saiyan was out of options and he was starting to get desperate now. "P-Please...!?" As much as it pained him to say such a thing, he was left with no other option. He just threw it out in hopes that Kami would accept his simple request.

Now Kami was left with a dilemma. He, personally, did not want to save the Saiyan. 'Do it.'

The voice of Guru had spoken to Kami. Was he telling him to actually help this man? Especially after all the crimes committed against his own children. Kami had to think about it. "If I help you...will you help me?"

"H-how?"

"Against Freeza," Kami answered. "We're going to need help fighting him."

Vegeta couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth. Them, against Freeza? For sure they wouldn't last even a minute against him. "F-Freeza? Tch...you can't beat h-him..."

"With your help, our chances are much greater."

Vegeta was silent for a moment. Thinking about it, he came to the realization that he was in a rock and a hard place. Either he was to stay there and die or he was to go off against Freeza and still...DIE. This was a 'pick your poison' scenario for the Saiyan. But if he had to choose, it'd be to go out fighting. Every. Single. Time.

"C-Count me in..."

Kami smiled. "Very well..."

* * *

Against Freeza, Kakarot and Yamcha were being given an extremely hard time. The scarred earthling even attempted Kaio-Ken times 10 and it didn't do anything for him at all. The Saiyan and Yamcha were left with bruises all lover, taking heavy breaths.

Ox wasn't too far away, having just got done setting both Chaotzu and Tien down. He had checked for their vitals to make sure that they were okay. "Alright..." He took a quick glance over at the fight. "I have to get back."

Freeza was loving this sight. Yamcha looked like he was going to pass out anytime and Kakarot was having a hard time getting his breathing patterns straight. "The two of you do realize that you can just give up anytime and accept your death, yes?"

Yamcha growled. "I won't give up until it's over..." He rushed over to Freeza.

"Hm. Suit yourself." Freeza let Yamcha take all the time he needed as he neared him. Once Yamcha had cocked fists coming forward, Freeza simply moved his head over to the side. Once Yamcha realized he missed that punch, he tried to follow with another using his other hand.

Freeza was far too quick and struck first before Yamcha could. The earthling was left with his eyes shaking, clutching his gut for dear life. Being frozen, he could feel his mouth began to salivate involuntarily, starting to practically drool.

Freeza grimaced at Yamcha before he rendered the man a simple elbow to the cheek, sending him crashing into a mountain from afar. The tyrant remained hovering in the sky, a deadly smile on his face.

"So...Kakarot, is it? Do you wish to fight on?"

They both already knew the answer to that. Kakarot's pride wouldn't let him go out without fighting. "RAhH!" He quickly clapped his hands together.

"Hmmm?" Somewhat intrigued by this, Freeza continued to watch.

Kakarot's arms were extremely tensed while producing this technique. With effort, he started to distance his hands from one another. As he did so, a ring of ki began to form. Seeing his attack grow, Kakarot put on a confident smile. "Nobody's yet to endure this and come out unfazed..."

"I have no interest in being one of them." Freeza took a look at Kakarot's ring of ki and noted that through the circular energy, the Saiyan's entire chest was revealed. "Heh... Wide open." Raising his hand, Freeza fired off an unexpected ki-attack.

Kakarot didn't have a chance. The moment Freeza's attack pierced his chest, Kakarot's energy immediately died off. "A-Ahk!"

"DADDY!" Ox was already on his way to making the battlefield, but seeing his father getting a hole put through him had him speed up for sure.

Kakarot was just staring at the hole in his chest, face full of shock. Freeza laughed at the Saiyan's hysterical expression. "Didn't expect that did you?"

Kakarot looked back up at Freeza, snarling. In a failed attempt to curse at him, all Kakarot managed to do was cough up blood. And soon enough, everything started to go out of his control. He could feel himself beginning to descend down.

Ox quickly latched onto his father from behind, coming to make sure he didn't go in the water.

Freeza chuckled. "And the brat comes in to save the day. I'll make sure to have you both go to the otherworld together."

Having gotten a proper grip on Kakarot, Ox took off from there. Shooting over to the nearby island, which had the mountain that Yamcha was smashed into, Ox made sure to place his dad to safety.

"D-Daddy?" On his knees, he was directly at Kakarot's side, looking at him with a face full of worry.

"D-Don't call me t-that..."

"Take your senzu out," Ox advised. "It'll save you."

Kakarot chuckled. "I'm out..."

"Dad...?" Ox started to shake the man's body. "Dad?"

Kakarot slipped out of conscious. His vitals were getting much weaker by the second, and he couldn't just stay up with the rapid loss of blood. No matter how bad he wished to stay conscious to see what was going on, his body was the one to make the final decision.

Under the assumption that his father was dead, Ox was left in shock. He had experienced this before with his mother and now his dad. He didn't want this again. He didn't like it. He really didn't like it.

Face full of tears, the boy stood up and turned around. The only person that he had his eyes on was Freeza. Said man looked down at the little boy with an obnoxious grin, taking pride in the fact that he managed to deal a great amount of pain, and not just to his physically hurt victim. He could tell that the kid was emotionally hurt and dined off it.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Out of nowhere, the boy let it all out. All of the built up anger from this one thing couldn't be simply contained anymore. And everyone could feel it.

The power was so overwhelming that it forced even Kakarot and the others to come back to consciousness. The shaky mountains surrounding the entire battlefield. Freeza himself started to get somewhat worried as he never seen anyone other than him capable of doing such a thing.

Giant waves would come up due to the strong pressure and dump itself on the land. Some roots of the harmonious looking trees of Planet Namek just suddenly broke off. The thinner and weaker looking trees were sent through the air.

"W-What the hell is this?" If there was any perfect time to have a properly functioning scouter with him, it would surely be at the current moment. He could only imagine at just how strong the boy appeared to be.

Ox was done with his yelling, but his face said it all. He was livid. From an outsider's perspective, it'd be easy for them to say that the kid was seeing red. But in a literal sense, all Ox could see was Freeza. And he was long established as an enemy. He wasn't going to hold back anything.

The boy shot off his two feet, going head on for him. "FREEZA!"

Power-levels

Chaotzu: 60,000

Tien: 85,000

Yamcha: 90,000

Ox (Zenkai): 800,000...(Angry): ? ? ?

Kakarot: 200,000

Freeza(Second Form/Holding Back): 1,060,000. (Second Form/Full Power): 1,325,000.


	42. Certain Victory?

"FREEEZA!"

Freeza could only see a blur of Ox's body before he found himself being sent back by a hard punch directly to the face. "Grrr...!" Freeza had his left eye half open and his right totally shut. He tried his best to get a glimpse of where the boy previously was, yet he was nowhere to be found. "What the?" Freeza quickly did a flip mid-air, stopping himself from going back any further. "Where'd that brat go?"

"RAHHH!" Ox came down hard with a direct elbow to the head. Freeza was all of a sudden being directed towards the ground now. All he could see below him was nothing but blue. Ox shot down on Freeza and began to render the tyrant a series of bicycle kicks to the spine.

"Oof oof oof oof oof oof oof!" Freeza found himself getting hit again and again. He wanted it to stop, but Gohan was moving at a ridiculous pace of speed, far too much for Freeza to handle at the given moment. "Gr...!" Getting aggravated by these constant strikes, he swiftly swung his tail for Ox. The kid had already seen this coming and vanished out of sight. "NANI!?"

Ox appeared right below Freeza and came up with a hard uppercut, striking him dead center in the nose. Freeza's entire head went up, which revealed his throat.

"TATATATATTAATTATATATA!" Ox consistently punched Freeza in the abdomen many times over. Freeza's eyes were wide as well as his mouth, which had parts of saliva flying straight out with each punch given.

Kakarot, who was still barely conscious, couldn't even believe what he was remotely seeing. His son was handling Freeza as if he was child's play. Knowing his kid well, Ox's power had spiked due to his hysterical emotions.

Freeza clapped his hands together and tried to ram his fists onto Ox's back. The boy went head first, ramming it into Freeza's chest. "GRAGH! Y-you...little PUNK!"

Ox blocked a direct punch to the face and raised his foot, punting Freeza in the chin. The impact of the strike had Freeza flying back even more. Ox clapped his hands together, forming a ring of ki, very much the same of what Kakarot attempted to make prior to being blasted through the chest.

Freeza quickly stuck his hand out, attempting to fire an energy attack at the boy. Ox quickly smacked it away with his tail, redirecting it at Freeza, who raised his arms up to block his own blast. Ox used this as the perfect opportunity to launch his attack and did so immediately as hard, precise and as fast as he possibly could. "DIE!"

BOOOMM!

Ox hovered in the sky, taking deep heavy breaths. He had put everything he could into that very attack. Though he could only hope that Freeza happened to take an extreme amount of damage. He could still sense the man so he wasn't dead yet.

Once all of the smoke cleared, Freeza was visible, giving Ox an extremely unpleasant scowl. "Y-You...!" Freeza started to shake. "You've pulled my tail long enough!" Freeza couldn't believe the fact that some half breed monkey was genuinely inflicting pain onto him in this form. He had never meant none other than his own father to push him this far. It was absolutely ridiculous!

Kakarot watched from below, his vision truly getting blurry from his eyes that grew heavy due to the extreme blood loss. He could sense that Ox's power was dropping rapidly. 'N-No...come on...DAMMIT!' From what Kakarot could tell at the current moment, Ox was the only person capable of even remotely challenging Freeza. If his power was to drop now, then he'd stand absolutely no chance.

"It has been the first time someone other than my father has provoked me into transforming into my third state."

"A-Ah?" Ox didn't know whether to call this a bluff or not. But judging by the serious look on Freeza's face, it was getting extremely hard to tell. He could only hope that it was an act of subterfuge to trick him and give him false hope.

"And out of all people, a simple Saiyan brat has coerced me into transforming into my third form...!" A dark purple aura overcame Freeza, his red eyes dilating. "IT'S TIME I SHOW YOU TRUE TERROR!"

Ox was starting to get a little shaky. He could feel the overwhelming power already beginning to take place. He was totally wrong-Freeza wasn't bluffing at all. "N-No..." The high confidence the boy previously had had fell down and shattered immediately. If Freeza could continuously grow stronger, then what chance could he even have?

"OX!"

"Huh?" The boy turned around, hearing Tien's voice from afar. When he saw Tien, Yamcha and Chaotzu all standing up, looking as if they were at full power, he gave off a confused expression. "W-What happened?" Not just long ago, they each looked as if they were on the verge of death. Now they felt stronger and looked more self-assured than ever.

"Your Namekian friend happened...that's what." Vegeta appeared before Ox. The full-blooded Saiyan smirked, seeing that he had taken Ox by surprise.

"Y-You...!"

"I'm not here to fight you," Vegeta assured the boy, hoping to keep tensions between them on the low. "Look." Pointing down, he directed Ox's eyes to see Kakarot, who was getting healed by Kami. "Your father is getting healed."

Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu all blasted to where Ox and Vegeta was in a split second. "Not only that..." Tien had a confident grin on his face. "But he unlocked our hidden powers after he healed all three of us."

Yamcha looked onto Freeza. As his hidden power started to build up, so was his confidence. "So he's transforming again, huh...?"

"We have to be ready," Chaotzu said.

Down below, Kakarot had just gotten done being healed by Kami. The Saiyan got back on his two feet, with a hole in his armor. "I'm grateful and all, but I don't ever recall asking for your help."

"Think of it as a payback," Kami told Kakarot. "You've helped save my world on multiple occasions, so I help save your life."

Kakarot grinned. "So we're even then. " Seeing he was somewhat dirty, he wiped the dust off of him. Feeling an unordinary power coming from Vegeta, he looked up at him. "So that cretin is helping us, too, huh?"

"Yes," Kami said. "But don't let your judgment of him get in the way of your fighting. Our best chances are fighting together."

Kakarot was also feeling a different type of power coming from Kami. It wasn't just the younger and more pure look of the Namekian that threw him off for a loop, but he could feel an exponential jump in power. While it was surprising, he sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it. "You couldn't have arrived at a more appropriate time."

He and Kami looked back over to Freeza. Said tyrant had completed his metamorphosis, though he was yet to unleash all the power he had in it. The purple aura surrounding him spiked in a blaze for a split second before settling down.

Freeza was still the same height though he took a completely different appearance, with his head stretched out even more, making him look five times more a creep. Everyone surrounding him could feel this extreme jump in power and knew that Freeza wasn't to be taken lightly still.

Before his eyes, he could see a group of familiar faces, some of those faces he thought he had taken care of. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kakarot in company with a Namekian as well. "So you fools all come back at me with even more assistance and two new people to take me on...!" Freeza growled to himself. "Like a batch of cockroaches...you keep coming back...and you add more to the fold!"

Freeza, not wanting to waste much more time speaking, vanished right out of sight. Even with their increased powers, Freeza was all too fast for him. The first victim he had in mind was, of course, was the Saiyan brat that coerced him into transforming.

Kami shot from the ground over to the kid and kicked Freeza in the cheek, sending him away. Before he was kicked away, Freeza was right behind Ox, preparing to give the boy a hand through the chest. The boy only turned around as soon as Kami had forced away the unknown threat.

Kami was an expert martial artist, as well as being of the Dragon Clan. His assimilation with Guru was something special, as it increased his power beyond what he even thought was possible. "Your time has come."

Freeza looked around him. There were earthlings, Saiyans, and a Namekian all going to fight him. 'All seven of them...trying to fight me...!' Freeza growled. 'I know I'm much stronger than every single one of them, but...' He then shook his head. 'To hell with it all. I'm going to make their deaths fast and quick.' Freeza stretched a finger out, shooting a death beam.

Yamcha saw this coming from a mile away and decided to take action on the spot. "Kaio-Ken!" The scarred fighter, having doubled his power, took off immediately for Freeza, who barely saw him coming.

Raising his arm up to block Yamcha's attack, Freeza found himself having to actually put forth effort into keeping Yamcha at bay. 'How is he so much stronger than before...?'

Chaotzu, who was engulfed in the Kaio-Ken aura as well, took off directly for Freeza. Having Yamcha's back, he kicked Freeza in the shoulder, which forced said evildoer put his guard down. Seeing an opening, Yamcha kneed Freeza in the stomach and clawed him to the side. "There ya go, Tien!"

"Alright!" He, like the others, started to tense up. "KAIO-KEN!" The three-eyed warrior had a call back to his old days, feeling like the top dog again. "Rah!" Taking off for Freeza, he smacked the tyrant down with his hands. As Freeza was shooting down into the ground, Tien flew as quick as he could.

Just as Freeza made it ten yards above the ground, Tien could be seen coming from the side, just inches above Namekian's soil. "Volleyball fist!" He plucked Freeza in the spine, redirecting him into the air. Tien hopped high into the sky and plucked Freeza back down. "Ya!" He stuck his finger out. "Dodon Pa!"

Vegeta was getting somewhat mildly irritated just by looking at what was going on before him. 'What the hell am I here for if the earthlings are going to be the ones to kill him...? Seems to me they could take care of this bastard together if they wanted...which would mean, I wasn't truly needed in the first place.' Vegeta just shook his head. 'Pathetic.'

"Hello, Vegeta." Kakarot greeted the Saiyan, just deciding to join him in the sky.

Vegeta just ignored Kakarot. If he even as much as looked at him, he wouldn't be able to control himself from trying to kill him. 'Then I have to put up with him...!'

Freeza was lying on his stomach down in a crater below. He had marks and bruises all over. Some blood around his shoulders lightly dripped to the ground as well. He wasn't in no way out of commission to fight, but it could be seen that he had been damaged.

'These...earthlings...' Freeza's dark finger nails dug into the ground. Closing his hands, he started to collect a great amount of soil. 'I will...KILL THEM!' Outside, Freeza appeared to be calm and collect, but on the inside, he was incensed. 'Every last one of them will feel my wrath...EVERY LAST ONE!'

"Get up, Freeza!" Vegeta shouted from above. "We all know that didn't put you out of fighting capability!" Taunting the man while he was down was something that Vegeta got enjoyment out of. He wasn't the only one laughing, as Kakarot found it humorous as well.

From everyone's else perspective, it only appeared that a pure Saiyan would find this funny, especially since Freeza was getting to his feet in a nonchalant manner. "You cretinous pests..." Freeza dusted himself off, wiped the blood from his body and tried his best to erase the scratches. "None of you are even remotely mentally capable to apprehend just how far all of you have pushed me. A few earthling pests with a batch of troop and a mildly grotesque slug." Freeza was scrutinizing over his body as he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him. "You will all remunerate with your lives." He looked at them all dead in the eyes.

"Hahahahaha!" Vegeta busted out laughing. "You've reached your breaking point, Freeza. There is nothing you can do now except accept the inevitable waste of your miserable life. Hell, if you bowed down now, you'd just make that much easier..."

"Vegeta...out of all these years that you have known me, you would truly think of me committing such a milquetoast act in a predicament like this. If so...then you..are. dead. wrong." Freeza stretched his arms out and placed his left foot directly in front of his right. "Allow me to show you my fourth and final form!"

"Say what!?" Kakarot bellowed.

"How many forms does this freak have?" Tien started to get slightly nervous once more.

Yamcha chuckled. Seeing the look on some of his comrades faces, he noted that they were losing a hint of confidence. "With his last transformation, his power didn't double like the first time. Maybe this time his power will get an even smaller increase." From how Yamcha was saying this, he didn't seem a bit worried in the least. "If we all stick together, we still got this, guys."

"Yamcha's right," Ox said. "We need to fight together."

Tien nodded. "I'm with you, there."

"Me, too!" Chaotzu yelled out.

"And me as well," Kami said, making sure he wouldn't be left out. All of them watched on and waited for Freeza to transform.

Vegeta folded his arms. "I'm not fighting alongside you fools. But if push comes to shove, then I will fight."

"Agree," Kakarot said. "I want to finish this bastard on my own accord."

Kami couldn't believe what he was hearing from the Saiyans. "You two have to be joking...! Vegeta!" Catching the Saiyan's attention, Kami continued to speak. "Are you telling me right now that I brought you back from certain death just so you can sit here and do nothing?"

Vegeta laughed. "Don't get it twisted, Namekian! I will fight him. I recall myself agreeing with helping you. Yet I don't ever recall you saying I must fight alongside you and those weakling earthlings."

"Fools..."

"Dad!" Ox called out. "We need your help!"

Kakarot wasn't going to move a muscle until he knew he'd have Freeza all to himself. "If all else fails, then I'll join in the battle!"

Tien growled. "You're not even the strongest out of all of us!"

"And so?" Vegeta questioned. "A true Saiyan doesn't fight until he's the one to take care of the opponent."

"The two of you can fight them all you want," Kakarot added.

None of the others were able to grasp what the hell Kakarot and Vegeta were getting at. Maybe it had to be because of the Saiyan mindset, but even still, they didn't get it. Their biggest chances were 7 to 1. Though seeing how the two were now being stubborn, that number had noww been reduced to 5.

In Vegeta's mind, he was just looking forward to getting Freeza at his weakest point throughout the entire fight, taking him out with the element of surprise. He would be patient and wait until the time comes. He knew that attacking the man head-on would be a direct call for death and a ride to hell. If he just played his cards right, then he'd come out as the one to end the tyrant.

Kakarot, himself was thinking of something quite similar to what Vegeta was. He personally knew that if they all fought Freeza head-on, using Kaio-Ken, they'd eventually tire Freeza out. So when he was low on energy, Kakarot would come in himself and handle the rest. Much like Vegeta, he would have to play his cards right and wait for the perfect moment.

Down below, Freeza had managed to complete his transformation. A bright white light appeared from below as soon as Freeza transformed, which had everyone either close or squint and block their eyes to avoid temporary blindness. Once the bright flash started to dim out and being able to see without getting damaged vision was available, everyone lowered their arms.

Freeza's new appearance was totally unexpected from what everyone witnessing had pictured in their own minds. They expected a much more monstrous look than what they happened to get here.

He looked rather harmless, also more like an ally than an enemy. But the straight look on his face said it all: he had moved up on a different level.

"T-That power...!" Tien looked over at Yamcha. "So much for a little increase, huh? His power doubled again!"

Kami and the others growled.

"So what?" Ox asked. "We win if we take him on all together!"

"Right!" Chaotzu raised a finger into the air, charging a Dodon-pa.

Freeza looked at everyone, seeing what they were up to. Making a little observation, he could see that Kakarot and Vegeta appeared more alienated from the others. He simply smirked at this. 'Very good. I get to save the best for last.' Freeza then took a look over at the other five, all whom had worried expressions. 'I'll only have to worry about preserving the boy for later.'

"DODON PA!" Chaotzu fired his attack down.

Freeza just waited until the attack came down to him. To him, it felt as if the beam was taking forever to get near his own vicinity. Once it was just a few yards away from Freeza, he pounced into the air, just missing the attack. He looked down below, seeing what kind of damage the attack had dead on part of the island.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Yamcha fired forth his own attack.

Freeza looked ahead of him. Once the blue wave was mere inches away from him, he smacked the attack off to the side. Little did he know the attack was used as bait to allow both Ox and Tien to come at him from above.

Freeza blocked both of their elbows with his own forearms. He could see Tien make it directly behind him. 'Three eyes thinks he can catch me from behind, eh?' Freeza just raised his tail, poking straight out.

Tien came to a halt, Freeza's tail just coming within meters from touching his chest. "Too slow." Freeza quickly used his tail to smack Tien across the face. Placing his focus back on Kami and Ox, he punched them both in the gut and grabbed them by the heads, crashing them into one another and throwing them to the side as if they were complete ragdolls.

"Shit...!" Yamcha growled. "I think I kind of know what guy we're dealing with here!"

Chaotzu wasn't going to waste any time and powered up. "Kaio-Ken times five!" Chaotzu took off directly for Freeza, striking him in the chin with an elbow. Freeza felt the pressure coming from that punch, though he took it well.

"So that's what it's gonna take, huh?" Red fumes began to develop around Yamcha's body. "Get out of the way, Chaotzu! I'm about to knock this guy down a peg or two!"

"Okay!" Chaotzu moved out of the way, removing his Kaio-Ken aura.

Yamcha grinned. "Thanks, bud! KAIO-KEN TIMES FIVE!" Being equal with Chaotzu in power, Yamcha was just as strong. He rushed off for Freeza and clawed him in the face once more. "Prepare yourself! WOLF FANG FIST!" Yamcha rendered Freeza a series of strikes, mostly striking the face and upper body.

Freeza was getting very aggravated, taking all of these strikes. Yamcha raised his knee and tried to end his combo with a hit to the gut. Freeza placed both of his hands out, blocking Yamcha's attack.

"Hmp!"

Freeza punched Yamcha in the face and blew him away with a kiai push. Yamcha took the hit and didn't budge very far. "You earthlings are truly starting to irritate me." Kami came from behind Freeza in attempt to get him in the back of the neck. Freeza rammed the back of his head into Kami's face and smacked him with his tail as he did Tien moments earlier.

Ox received a hard foot to the stomach, trying to take Freeza by surprise coming from the side. Freeza elbowed Ox atop the head, sending the kid into a body of water. Charging ki in his hand, he prepared to do away with him.

"Rah!" Tien struck Freeza dead on in the face. Freeza didn't take too well to the hit. It definitely had to do something with Tien's power jump.

"Heh! Let's see how you do against my Kaio-Ken times five!" Tien delivered rapid strikes with two fingers to Freeza's stomachs. He was going hundreds of times faster than just the average machine gun. Being much more powerful than Freeza with this level of Kaio-Ken, there was absolutely nothing Freeza could do to defend himself against the series of strikes.

Tien then rocked Freeza hard with a double fist to the cheek, sending Freeza sideways.

"These earthlings are something else..." Vegeta mumbled to himself.

"If there's one thing I've learned over the years..." Kakarot started. "It'd be to never underestimate your opponent, no matter who they are or where they come from."

A vein almost found itself popped. Vegeta had no intentions of trying to have Kakarot hear him. While fighting Freeza, he'd have to put up with the man, but at the same time, he truly didn't want to hear his voice. "I'll be sure not to underestimate you in our next fight, Kakarot. I'll kill you on the spot."

Kakarot could only grin. "And don't expect me to toy with you like I did if there truly is a next time. I'm going to kill you immediately."

"Hmp. Glad to hear it." The two Saiyans ended their conversation there and continued to look on at the fight.

"Ya!" Tien, Chaotzu, Ox, Kami, and Yamcha were all teaming up on Freeza now. The most of them used their Kaio-Ken, which Freeza stood no chance against.

"DADADADDADADA!"

"TATATTATATA!"

"YAYAYAYAYYAYA!"

Freeza was getting hit all over, from the front, the sides, as well as his back. He could feel his entire body start to be engulfed in pain. 'These bastards...!' At the current moment, there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent them all from striking him.

"Alright!" Chaotzu kicked Freeza in the side of the neck, just as Ox punched Freeza on the other side of the face.

Yamcha struck Freeza in the chest with a one-inch punch strike, with Tien rendering Freeza the tip of his boot to the pelvis.

Kami himself struck Freeza as hard as he could in the back.

All of these hits happened simultaneously and gave off great impact. Freeza's face was faced up into the air. His eyes were shaking as if they were going to pop. "G-GRH...!" Receiving all these hits at once really put a number in on Freeza.

"Separate!" Kami said. All of them did as told and formed space. All of them at Freeza circled, charging their own signature attacks.

"Oknesam!" Kami fired a beam directed for Freeza.

"Kiko Ho!"

"Sokidan!"

"Dodon-Pa!"

"Masenko!"

Freeza was hit head-on from all different sides. An explosion so powerful that it pushed everyone to fire their attacks back. Kakarot and Vegeta both covered their faces, wanting to avoid all the dust.

The waves of Planet Namek shot up over 30 feet into the air! The water came above the smoke where Freeza was at and washed it all away. Freeza could be seen, slouched down, breathing heavily. "You...all...have truly...pushed me...FOR THE LAST TIME!"

"You can't talk to us if you're looking like you can barely fight anymore."

Freeza didn't entertain Yamcha with an angry reaction. Instead, he started to chuckle. "Indeed...you fools may have done more damage to me than I would have liked." He then picked his head up. "But allow me to let you in on a secret."

"What?" Tien asked. "You gonna transform again? I thought this was your final form..Heh."

Freeza stuck his hands out once more. Blood leaked from his feet, but he didn't seem to care. "Just 50%..." Freeza looked at them. "All I need is to use 50% of my full power to wipe the floor with each and every single one of you!"

"I'm calling your bluff now!" Kami yelled.

Freeza didn't care if they all thought he was bluffing or not. He personally knew just how much power he was using. Though he found it somewhat shameful that it took a pack of weaklings to make him push himself so far, Freeza knew that he had to do what he needed to in order to come out of this battle victorious. If it took pushing himself to half his true power, then so be it.

"Let me demonstrate..." The tyrant vanished out of sight.

 **Power-levels**

 **Ox: 800,000. (Angry): 1,600,000**

 **Chaotzu(Healed/Potential Unlocked): 810,000. (Kaio-KenX5): 4,050,000**

 **Yamcha: (Healed/Potential Unlocked): 810,000. (Kaio-KenX5): 4,050,000**

 **Tien: (Healed/Potential Unlocked): 1,020,000. (Kaio-KenX5: 5,100,000).**

 **Kakarot (Zenkai): 1,600,000**

 **Vegeta (Zenkai): 1,690,000**

 **Kami (Assimilated with Grand Elder Guru): 2,000,000**

 **Freeza(Second Form): 1,325,000. (Third Form): 1,855,000. (Final Form): 3,710,000.**

I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. As you can tell, this fight will be coming to an end soon. And if you haven't noticed the 'Allow me...' trope, you probably will get it now. Also, we're at over 200,000 words now. I didn't think I'd get this far, but I feel like we have another 200,000 more at the very least before this story comes to an end. Anyway, see you next chapter. Chao


	43. The End of a Ruler?

As Freeza promised, he was going to display 50% of his power. Kami and the others all figured that Freeza was simply bluffing, but it turned out to be completely false the moment that he had disappeared. People could sense his power, but Freeza was moving all over the place at rapid speeds. None on the battlefield were able to remotely keep up.

Yamcha was looking around back and forth, trying his best to track Freeza down. 'Where'd he go?'

Tien made an effort in sensing out for Freeza's ki, but he only got the same result as the others did. "He's all over the place!" Even if Freeza was going all over the place, none would be able to pin point where he'd make his final stop to give his first strike. That was the main thing people were worried about.

"I'm right here..."

Tien let out a little gasp once Freeza revealed his devilish face. The very last thing he saw was that smile before he doubled over due to a strike to the stomach. The piercing blow had Tien's entire body shaking. Freeza chuckled and elbowed Tien directly on his back, sending him crashing into the ground.

"He's right there!" Ox called out. The boy went to charge an energy attack, hoping to make contact. Everyone else followed Ox, looking to reach the same goal as he.

Freeza turned his head back and smirked at all of them. The moment they launched their attacks off, Freeza was rocketing down. He didn't pay them any mind at all and had his sights only for Tien at the current moment.

Kakarot and Vegeta were watching on the sideline and couldn't keep up at all. The two Saiyans were in disbelief with what they were seeing. "So he finally shows us a sample of his true power..." Vegeta found himself becoming more and more internally frustrated. By the looks of it, this fight was never something he should have involved himself in.

Freeza smashed his foot onto Tien's leg, completely breaking it in half. Tien's mouth opened wide, looking as if he was going to let out a painful scream, though no sound came out of his mouth. There was a simple yelp at the end when his broken leg laid flat on the ground.

"Hohohohoho..." Freeza laughed at Tien as he looked down at him. "Now do you see...?" Freeza placed one of his feet over the bald man's head. "I just took out one of your best warriors in a matter of seconds." Freeza put forth more pressure on his foot, making sure Tien wouldn't be able to lift his head not even remotely an inch.

Seeing his friend being forced to the ground like that was getting to Chaotzu. "Let Tien go!" a bright red surrounded his entire being prior to him taking off immediately for Freeza.

"Chaotzu no!" Yamcha warned.

"Damn it!" Kami cursed. If they didn't continue using strategy, everything they fought so hard for would crumble down. They needed to stick together in order to win. He looked at the Saiyans for a brief moment and seen that they still weren't making any movements. With their help, then they just MAY be capable of making some difference, though they weren't budging at all.

Freeza had a simple smile on his face, happily letting Chaotzu make way towards him. "Try all you fools want." Freeza stuck his hands out. All of a sudden, Chaotzu's flight came to a complete halt.

"A-Agh!?" Chaotzu was stuck, not able to move his own body at all. For as long as he used his telekinetic powers on his own opponents, this was the very first time he was to feel what it was like.

"You won't come out of here alive." Freeza moved his hand down in one simple swift motion. Chaotzu came crashing down hard in the middle of the island, forming an explosive crater. Hopping into the sky, Freeza charged one giant beam in the tip of his index finger. "Perish." In the blink of an eye, the very crater Chaotzu happened to be in blew up.

Kakarot, Vegeta, and everyone else had to cover their eyes with the blinding smoke being emitted from the impact. Freeza didn't mind the aftermath of it and turned around, facing Kami, Yamcha, and Ox. "You all ready to die?"

Kami could see the worry plastered all over on Yamcha and Ox's nervous faces. "I need you two to remain calm. Most of all...I need us to stick together on this one."

Both Yamcha and Ox got on guard, prepared for whatever Freeza was to bring. The tyrant ascended up at their level into the air. "You can try your best and outdo me with numbers in battle, it'll all be for a naught." Freeza got ready to make another move. "You'll see by the end of it all."

Once Freeza came dashing at them, none of the three knew just who were going to be victims. Ox felt a strong breeze pass directly by him, as did Yamcha. Kami knew he was the one that was going to receive punishment, though he didn't know when to expect it.

"Let's see how long you last..." As his back was facing Kami's back, Freeza used his tail and wrapped it around Kami's shoulder, going under the Namekian's armpit. Once he wrapped it around, he began to apply pressure, which was eliciting sounds of pain coming from Kami.

"K-KK!" Kami could hear the movement of his bones coming together, crunching up. He had to squeeze his teeth together in order to deal with it.

Freeza could see Kami wasn't enjoying it in the least and that was what he wanted. "So far so good." Freeza chuckled as he applied more pressure. Kami's eyes went wide. "Hah!"

CRACK!

As if that was enough, Freeza ripped Kami's arm clean off immediately after shattering it into pieces. Kami was left wheezing, blood squirting from what used to be a limb of his. The Namekian was in too much of a shock to even come with a counter attack. "That must have hurt." Freeza took advantage and smacked Kami upside the head with the man's ripped off arm.

A few more hits and Kami was sent crashing down below. Freeza tossed the arm over into a lake from afar. After having his fun with the Namekian, he shifted his eyes over to Yamcha and Ox Out of the two, he came to a quick decision whom he wanted to mess with next. "Now it's time to extract my revenge on you, boy!" Now having his eyes on Ox, he was the next person he wanted to fight.

Before Freeza could even take off after Ox, he received a punch dead center in the jaw from someone else. The punch didn't faze him in the slightest, though it was still very much unexpected. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that it was Kakarot who struck him. "Hold your horses. I'll get to you when I can." Ignoring Kakarot, Freeza vanished once more.

Kakarot was left flabbergasted. He had put everything into that simple haymaker and Freeza didn't even budge. "W-what is he...?"

"Unbeatable..." Vegeta whispered to himself. The Saiyan started to look around the area. 'Getting myself into the mix of this was probably the worst mistake of my life...' Vegeta genuinely had no idea that Freeza was THIS powerful. Had he known that, he wouldn't be in this situation. 'Right now I'm just lingering here...waiting for this bastard to come and kill me.' Vegeta shook his head. 'What the hell do I do!?'

Ox didn't last as much as a second against Freeza. One knee to the gut and that seemed to be all she wrote. The Saiyan hybrid was clutching his stomach and slowly beginning to descend down to land. Freeza seized this opportunity and grabbed the boy by his headset full of hair. "I won't punish you too harsh too soon. I need to save you for the last course so I can serve you the coldest..." Freeza punched Ox in the stomach a few more times before backhanding him down into the ground, sliding off into the dirt.

Kami was just getting back up onto his feet, groaning in pain as he did. "W-We need a plan..." He looked up, seeing Yamcha was one of the last people in the battle able to stand.

Yamcha was standing hard into Freeza's cold eyes. 'This guy gives me the creeps...'

"I believe I'll give you the quickest death of all..." Freeza rubbed his chin, looking as if he was having a hard time deciding.

Yamcha growled. Seeing Freeza treat him as some toy was the biggest insult to receive from anyone. "That's it! KAIO-KEN TIMES 20!" A giant burst of red flames ignited. Yamcha's entire skin tone seemed to have changed. "RAHH!" Dashing in on Freeza, he gave the first strike with a hard elbow to the cheek.

Freeza took the hit and countered with a punch to the chest. Yamcha coughed up saliva and was rendered a kick to the face, being sent flying to the side. Freeza took off after Yamcha, making way just above him in attempt to send him crashing down with a double ax handle.

Yamcha disappeared just in time and gave Freeza the tip of his boot directly into the spine. Freeza didn't see this coming and had a change of direction, which was now downwards. Yamcha cupped his hands together, hoping to give off the final blow.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

As he was plummetting down, Freeza could feel the force of the attack making way down towards him. Turning around, he already had his hands out, trying to block the attack with his bare hands. Once it came into contact with him, Freeza found himself being pushed down hard.

"GRR-GRAGH!" Freeza used a kiai shout as powerful as he could muster. Doing so successfully, he managed to redirect Yamcha's most powerful Kamehameha right back at him.

Yamcha was wide-eyed, not believing what just happened. "N-No way!" Acting on impulse, Yamcha placed his arms before his face and blocked his own attack head-on. The impact nearly blew him away the moment it detonated.

Freeza descended back down to his feet, wiping himself off. "Even while using only half of my true power, you earthlings still manage to bring me more trouble than primarily desired. Tch...as if I wanted any at all."

"This is it..." Vegeta mouthed. "He can't be beaten."

Kami regenerated his lost arm with a new one, looking on with a face of pure determination. "Please be okay..."

Once the smoke cleared, Yamcha turned out to be visibly okay. Minus the countless scratches as well as the leaking blood coming from different areas of his own body, which was more revealed due to his torn clothes, he was fine.

"Pant...pant..."

"I bother to ask only one question before I continue with this inevitable slaughter." Having everyone's attention, Freeza continued to speak. "Are there any last words?"

Yamcha, behind his arms, which he still had over his face, started to laugh. "Yes...as a matter of fact there are!."

Freeza smiled. "Then by all means, please speak. After this, the only ones to know of your existence are the people you know. You won't be nothing but a memory of the past in the next few moments."

"Guys..." Yamcha removed his hands and stood up erect. "I have just one request. I need you all to hear me!"

Tien, who was down with a broken leg, twitched. He was still conscious but he felt like he could barely move.

Chaotzu, who was lying in his own crater, came crawling to the top. "W-what is it...?" All presumed the little guy to be dead, but he had much more endurance than people thought of him to have.

Ox had his eyes open, looking up at Yamcha while on his back.

"Does this fool actually have a plan?" Vegeta was listening as closely as everyone else, hoping it was something good.

Yamcha shot both of his arms into the sky. "I need all of you to protect me as I gather energy from this planet! I just need a little time! Can you all do that for me?"

That was when Chaotzu's eyes lit up. "I-It's the Genki Dama!"

Tien placed both of his arms on the ground and used them in the effort to try and push himself up. "I-I can try!"

Ox rose back up to his feet. "I can help, too!"

"Count me in," Kami said.

Yamcha looked back over to Kakarot and Vegeta. "Can you guys help?"

Kakarot gave off a simple nod in response. If this was the only way they were going to take out Freeza for good, then he was all with it. Vegeta on the other hand just smirked, which made it seem like he was going to help.

"Whatever you cretins have planned, it's bound to fail." Freeza grinned. "Let's play the game, shall we?" Setting his eyes just for Yamcha, he dashed off for the scarred fighter. "Let's see how well you can protect your friend! HAHAHHAHAHA!"

Tien managed to hop himself back up to one foot. If Freeza made it to Yamcha, he'd kill him on the spot. And so far, Yamcha was their only key to victory. "I can still fight!" Tien clenched his fist. "And I won't let you all down!" Tien started to power up. Hopping off one foot, Tien took off. "Kaio-Ken times ten!"

Chaotzu did the same thing, powering up to Kaio-Ken times ten as well. And after them, Ox, Kami, and Kakarot took off at once.

Before Freeza could even touch Yamcha, he was kicked off to the side by Tien. Appearing out of nowhere directly behind Tien was Chaotzu, who decked Freeza dead center in the face. Freeza wiped the blood from his face and fired off death beams.

Chaotzu and Tien both had an equally easy time evading the attacks. Ox came from below and rendered Freeza an uppercut to the chin. Freeza took the hit and countered with an elbow to the nose. Kami kneed Freeza in the stomach, though all he got out of it was a smack in the face from Freeza's tail.

Tien came at Freeza hard, as did Chaotzu. The two were sending rapid machine flying punches to Freeza's stomach simultaneously. "GRUGH!" Freeza was taking these hits hard, over and over. Even with his increased power, the fact that these earthlings would use such a technique as Kaio-Ken and team up on him as well was something that would put Freeza in a minor hole, no matter how strong he was.

Kakarot then came out of the blue and molly whopped Freeza with a hard straight punch to the face. Freeza was forced back, being sent flying for hundreds of yards. Kakarot shot off after Freeza and maneuvered up and behind Freeza. The Saiyan came down, hoping to strike Freeza hard with an upside down boot to the head.

Freeza saw this coming and vanished. Reappearing behind Kakarot, he was trying to fire off a beam through his chest. Ox came in to save the day and kicked Freeza in the face. Chaotzu followed off right behind and rendered the tyrant a series of bicycle kick to the face prior to backing off, allowing Tien to enter the fray and roundhouse kick Freeza back even further.

Vegeta couldn't believe what he was seeing. "All of them actually have a chance when they take Freeza on like that. And yet here I am...unable to do shit!" For some reason, Vegeta found his anger beginning to rise again. "TCH! This is disgusting! I, Vegeta, should be the one taking Freeza around for a few rounds! After all the bastard did. I can't just stand here!" A bright yellow aura began to surround the Saiyan."

Still ganging up on Freeza, Kakarot and Ox managed to get an elbow to the abdomen as Kami kicked Freeza directly in the gut. Chaotzu and Tien could be seen charging Dodon-Pa's, hoping to take Freeza down a couple of more notches.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!"

Everyone turned around, seeing Vegeta coming at them with a burst of speed. Doing as they were told, everyone split immediately. Freeza, after taking on a minor beating, looked out of his half-closed eye. "Vegeta?" Seeing his favorite pet finally muster up the courage to come and fight, Freeza smiled graciously.

"RAHHHH!" Vegeta came in hard, giving Freeza a clean right hook across the face. The Saiyan followed with a left hook and blocked a simple jab from his opponent. "You would have been better off killing all of us!" Vegeta punched Freeza directly in the gut.

Quickly, Vegeta ducked under another failed attempt at a punch and came up above Freeza, ramming his forearm into the tyrant's throat. Using momentum to his advantage, Vegeta and Freeza were both flying down towards land. In the process, Vegeta was sending off a barrage of punches and kicks.

Under any normal circumstances, Vegeta wouldn't have a chance in hell, taking on Freeza one on one. But he found the only thing pushing him this far was his anger and his motivation to take back what was rightfully his: his pride. Sending Freeza smashing into a couple of rocks, Vegeta shot himself back into the air, charging his signature attack.

"GARLIC HO!"

Yamcha couldn't believe his eyes once he saw Vegeta evaporate an entire island with his own power. 'This guy is out of control!'

Vegeta was left huffing and puffing, with a triumphant smirk on his face. "I don't care that you killed my friends, nor my father for that matter. I'm just pissed that I was made to be your slave for 20 years! I don't work for you, Freeza! I've always been my own man! BUAHAHAHAHA! And when this is all said and done, I'm going to be the one ruling the universe, not you!'

"I truly beg to differ."

Vegeta's laughter came to a complete halt. Descending from even higher above was Freeza, who seemed to not be in the very least scathed. Vegeta was at a loss for words when he saw Freeza the way he did. "N..."

"Yes, Vegeta. I've survived those silly set of weak hits you actually call attacks. Fool! Did you forget I am in the usage of 50% of my full power? Or did you truly think I was bluffing? Ah, Vegeta...YOU'VE JUST SHORTENED YOUR LIFESPAN!"

Before Vegeta could see what was coming, Freeza headbutted him hard. Vegeta was sent back, blood flying into the air. Freeza shot directly above Vegeta and kicked him in the cheek with his feet. He didn't slow down there and followed the Saiyan, going down behind him this time and ramming his feet into his spine, nearly breaking it.

Vegeta, though very well he could feel the pain being inflicted on him, was still at a loss for sound in itself. He had put every ounce of power into his attacks. He put his strength, pride, everything. And all of it seemed to be for a naught.

Freeza came down from above and smashed his elbow into Vegeta's stomach. He did it over and over again until more pieces of Vegeta's ragged clothing came off. Grabbing the Saiyan by his hair, Freeza rammed his face into Vegeta's multiple times. He let his hair go and struck him hard in the face for the final time by using his knee. As Vegeta was getting ready to fly away, Freeza grabbed him by his ankle and flew in a different direction.

He lifted Vegeta over his shoulder and rammed him into a mountain. As his back was placed against it, Freeza used Vegeta as a personal punching bag and rendered him all kinds of hits all over. Each hit pushed him further and further back into the mountain. "YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAAYYA!"

"The bastard stands no chance..." Tien stated.

After a 30 second session of punching Vegeta relentlessly, Freeza stopped his onslaught and decided to take a break. "How are you holding up, Vegeta?" He lifted his head up so he could get a closer look. "You don't look very well." Freeza didn't get a response from Vegeta at all, who usually always had something to say. Scrutinizing him more, Freeza couldn't believe what he was seeing. Down Vegeta's cheeks rolled crystal white streams. "Oh, my are those tears?!"

"Vegeta's crying?" Ox asked.

"BUAHHAHAHAHAHA! What a perfect way to go out!" Freeza raised his hands in the air. "And look...none of them are even going to try and help you. How sad."

"I'm going to be the one to kill him!" Kakarot appeared before Freeza, kneeing him in the face. "Back the hell off."

Freeza cracked his neck. Looking off to the side, he could see the others he had knocked down were back up and ready to fight. "Hmp. You all are truly persistent."

"There's no telling just how long this fight may go. It can go for hours, hell, even days. There truly is no point."

Freeza gave off a saddened sigh. "You know, something? You truly do make a point." Realizing that he was simply prolonging this seemingly endless fight, Freeza decided to end it all here. The tyrant clapped his hands together. "I don't need some stupid balls for immortality. My power in itself is practically immortal." Freeza raised his hands above his head and spaced his hands out. "You and this entire planet is going to perish."

"Excuse me?"

Freeza grinned. In his hands appeared a dark ball of energy. "My specimen is made for being able to survive in space. It's very rare for a species to have such a mechanism, though it's possible. I'm afraid I can't say much the same for you Saiyans and earthlings."

Kakarot fired off a barrage of ki attacks at Freeza on the spot. As many as he could possibly do, he did. With each hit, the smoke continued to build up. At this current moment, it was all out of desperateness. Doing anything he could to take up more time for Yamcha, Kakarot did it.

"Nice try." Freeza got ready to launch the ball. "GO TO HELL THE LOT OF YOU!"

"Genki Dama GO!"

That's when Freeza's attention was immediately altered. "What the...?" Much to his surprise, an enormous, giant blue ball of energy was making way towards him. "N-NO...!" Kakarot took this opportunity to grab Vegeta and did so, keeping him out of harm's way. He and everyone else looked on as Freeza had to go head up against the Genki Dama himself. Freeza tried his best in order to push it back, but he was completely powerless.

"N-No...!" Not just seconds later, the entire Genki Dama flushed him down. The ball's energy destroyed anything surrounding it. The mountain that Freeza was neared was reduced to nothing. The entire island that he was on disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

None of them could believe their eyes. In the blink of an eye, all they could see before them was pure water. The sun illuminated brightly over the green waves. Quiet was all it was. The life and death battle that took place just moments ago felt as if it never took place...

And out of this, they all had one genuine question.

"Is it over?"

* * *

Find out next chapter.

 **A/N: One of the reviewrs pointed out that Freeza seems weaker. If you look at the power-level list I displayed the past few chapters you would see why. The earthlings are much more powerful here than their canon counterparts. And keep in mind, they're using Kaio-Ken _AND_ teaming up on Freeza, who is still holding back power in his final form. That's why I have him listed at just above 3 million, because he was holding back. Regardless, his power is very much the same. Stay tuned.**


	44. A Nice Welcome Back

**Shoutout to my recent reviews. And LOL at the review from the guest. I didn't catch that trope (if you'll call it that). But to be frank, I do feel Yamcha is somewhat underrated. I won't say I really like him, tho.**

 **Also, response to another guest: Debes entender que Goku no existe en esta fanfic we. Esto es sobre Kakarotto, si no se hubiera olvidado sus origenes de ser un Saiyajin y se crecio con Pilaf, Mai y Soba hasta que tenia 12. Ademas, no tiene los cojones pa' matarle a nadie ahora porque eso nunca habia hecho. No ta bien chingon (por ahora). Si logras comprender el ingles, prefiero que lo escribas por favor. Este fanfic no es en tu lengua materna.**

 **A/N: I've been updating my past chapters, making them better and putting in some slight changes. Starting from chapter one of course. If you want, you can go ahead and check it out.**

* * *

After the disappearance of an entire island, everyone else just stood and waited, hoping for Freeza to suddenly resurface once more. Kakarot had tossed Vegeta, whom he had saved at the last second, over on the ground while he kept his eyes peeled at the same time.

"I don't sense anything," Kami said. The old timer has seen many make the mistake of assuming a battle was over, even not being sure that their ki was undetectable. If Freeza was somehow still alive, then it could very well be problematic for them all.

"Neither do I," Tien said.

Chaotzu and Yamcha tried to feel out for an energy signal as well, yet they ended up empty-handed. The same result pertained toKakarot, Ox, and Vegeta as well. It seemed that Freeza was finally gone.

"I can't believe it!" Yamcha shouted aloud. "We did it! We actually defeated that monster." The scarred fighter's eyes lit up, his heart racing. "The most life-threatening situation I've ever been in and we come out on top."

Tien smiled, crossing his arms. "Can't say I'm not happy about that myself."

"So what now?" Ox asked, referring to what they were going to do now.

"We go home," Chaotzu said. That was the only thing on his mind now. During the battle with Freeza, he had doubts that he was ever going to see another day of life again.

"But what about Vegeta?" Yamcha inquired.

Everyone looked over at him. Vegeta, being extremely weakened, had a very hard time raising himself back up on his two feet. A few chuckles found their way out of his mouth. "Go ahead. Do what you have to do." Vegeta figured that either way it went, it would end with him dead anyway. Going back over his talk with Kami, he was either to remain to himself dead or end up dead against Freeza. And since neither happened, the only thing on his mind was these earthlings he deemed as weaklings going to finish him off.

Kakarot looked over Vegeta, seeing him battered and beaten. He appeared as if he lacked any will to fight in the current moment. From his own point of view, he had already proven himself worthy against Vegeta, showing himself that he was capable of beating him using his own power. He truly didn't have anything to gain by killing him at the current moment. "What do you all say we just head back to earth?"

"I second that," Kami said. "I'm getting a little homesick."

Kakarot didn't need to say anything more and prepared to take off. Everyone else began to get into motion as well, preparing to make their departure.

"This doesn't mean that it's the end of everything," Vegeta spoke. "Freeza has an army of men. They'll find out who took them out and they won't rest until they manage to kill every single one of them."

Kakarot was somewhat alarmed at this. While Freeza's simple men more than likely wouldn't pose any threat, the fact that Freeza had that type of power was something that interested him. "An army of men? How big are we talking here?"

"Across the universe," Vegeta replied curtly. Then a smile came across his face. "But you don't need to worry about that. I'll be the one to take care of them. With Freeza gone, they're going to be needing a new ruler to take their place."

Kakarot didn't take too kindly to that. Thinking of Vegeta taking Freeza's place as the universal ruler wasn't something he was quite fond of. He knew that Vegeta wouldn't stop until he managed to defeat him. He could see by the way he was being looked at now, though it didn't matter at the current moment. "We'll see about that." Not speaking on the topic anymore, Kakarot took off, the others following him from behind.

Vegeta just stood there. As they all left, an angry scowl made its way to his face. The embarrassment he was just rendered was so great that the effect would delay before it really got to him. "Before I ever cross paths with you again, I will become the legendary Super Saiyan. That... is a promise."

As they were all flying back to the ships they had landed on Namek with, silence being the only thing that filled the air, it being that nobody spoke. "So is it just me or does the idea of that guy running an entire universal army frightening?" Yamcha was the first to bring this up of course.

"You're not the only one," Tien responded. "He's not too far off from Freeza when it comes to morals."

"Dad...don't you think we should have finished him off back there?"

Kakarot just shook his head. "No matter what he does, he's absolutely harmless to us now. But I know I'm going to nip the problem in the bud before it can begans to grow like cancer."

"What are you implying exactly?" Kami asked.

Kakarot scoffed. "What kind of fool would let someone like Vegeta run amok with an entire army of his own?" The Saiyan chuckled at the notion. "Quite frankly, I'm not worried about him since we have devices such as the Gravity Machine that is convenient for our use of training. But it's always best to kill the problem before it spreads."

"I'm in agreement with you," Kami said. "Knowing him, he won't stop until he's had our heads."

"Kakarot's head mostly," Tien added with some laughter.

"He's right though," Chaotzu remarked. "We have the gravity chambers. We'll just get stronger and stronger."

Ox got ahead of everyone and turned around, flying backward. "So we don't have to worry about anything!" A victorious smile crossed his face.

"No, we don't. But what you need to worry about is hitting the books and continuing with your own training."

"What's going on with your wine business?" Yamcha asked, changing the subject.

"Same ole'," Kakarot replied simply. "Only difference now is that Bulma's people are in helping out, making technological advances."

"Like the wine set," Yamcha said. "You get all types of different versions in just one capsule. It comes in a cooler and all."

Kakarot started to make his descent as they neared the capsule machines. "Yeah, we'll see what's up when we get there." At the current moment too much was going on, though Kakarot had been considering moving on from the business and solely surround his lifestyle with fighting. He knew he'd have a lot of time to think about it later on.

"We'll see you guys in about a week," Ox said as he entered the ship with Kakarot.

"Wait...who is Kami going with?" Yamcha asked.

Kakarot turned around before he got in and looked at Kami. He already knew that Yamcha, Chaotzu, and Tien were all going together, which was three in total. Though it'd only be him and Ox training. "Sure, come along. We could use an extra partner."

Kami didn't need to be told twice. He entered the ship with Kakarot and Ox, the two people he would be training with on his trip back to earth. The gang of six people took off in their ship, finally making their way home.

Many miles away, Vegeta was still in the same spot he was before. Where he was, he could see two gigantic ships making their leave. He contemplated blasting one of them down, already knowing that in them were the earthlings. But that'd bring more problems than he desired.

Looking off into the distance, Vegeta could feel the energies of other Namekian locals. Even if he was greatly wounded, nobody would be able to stand up to him. He could easily continue his primary objective and try to collect the Dragon Balls and wish for immortality. Upon pondering on it further, he just shook his head and discarded the idea.

He mainly needed it so he could defeat Freeza, but there weren't any other threats as strong as Freeza as far as he knew, so what use would the Dragon Balls really bring him? For him, there were only two new goals: Take Freeza's place and defeat Kakarot. There was nothing else the Saiyan lived for now. Freeza was done with and he was now moving on with the next hump to get over in his lifetime.

He'd just take his leave and get started from there.

* * *

 _ **Six Days Later**_

Nothing as rambunctious was going on Planet Earth compared to what happened to be transpiring on Planet Namek.

At Capsule Corp, Bulma was throwing a celebration party for her successful business deal with Kakarot, as well as their arrival. It was 4:30 on the dot and with each second that passed, the sooner that the party was to start. "Do you have the pretzels, dear?"

Unfortunately, Dr. Briefs's silly mistake of letting midget dragons out of his own personal zoo came about at the exact wrong time. Multiple guests were to be arriving at the party and here her father was going to mess it all up before it even got started.

"Why are you worried about pretzels?!" Bulma yelled through the house, her tone showing she was somewhat irked, though most of that came from anxiousness. "You should be worried about your stupid dragons not laying eggs around the house!"

"Oh, don't worry!" Panchy came out from one room, holding up a couple of razor sharped fanged dragons. "I've got them!"

Bulma's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets, seeing her mother carry those little things, which were all capable of homicidal tendencies. "Then what are you doing!? Put them back inside!"

"Yes dear!" Panchy turned around and started to place them back where they belonged.

Bulma took one big sigh of relief. She was wearing a grey mini skirt and had on flashing white sneakers. Her silver earrings were noticeable at first glance as her flat-ironed purple hair was placed behind her ears. "The food is set up and the karaoke thing is up there! We've got games for the kids." She took a deep breath. "All I have to do is worry about not ruining my make-up..."

DING DONG

"Someone's here?" Panchy leaned over, holding a batch of cookies, a dragon resting on her arm.

Bulma glared at her mother. "Shoo, Shoo!"

"OHHKAY DEAR, Hheehe." Panchy disappeared back into the kitchen.

"I wonder who could be here so soon. The real party doesn't start for another 45 minutes..." Heading over to the door, Bulma opened it up.

"SURPRISE!" Dedana had her hands out wide, a big smile on her face. The woman had on a jean jacket over a black sundress and high-heels. She didn't wear any make-up and let her natural long black hair go past her shoulders. The best feature about her, being her purple eyes, had somewhat of a sparkle to them. She was definitely dressed for the occasion.

Right aside her was Chi-Chi, who wore a long pink dress with a mini white vest and a ponytail.

"Whoah! You two look amazing!"

"Like a model?" Dedana asked.

"Y-Yeah, sure..."

The alien woman then grinned. "She stays in those magazines," Chi-Chi told Bulma jokingly.

"You guys are a little early, but come on in." Bulma backed up, allowing the two females to enter the party.

"Wow, look at this setup!" Chi-Chi observed the room.

"Haha. And this is just the first floor. There's going to be a lot of people. We have patios set up from the second floor all the way up to the fifth."

"Awesome!" Dedana hopped onto the couch that just resided in the middle of the room. She kicked off her shoes and sat her small feet on the armchair of the velvet sofa. "Let me know when we get visitors. I'm gonna take a nap." The woman sealed her eyes shut.

"Excuse me..." Bulma slowly crept up behind Chi-Chi. "Why don't you guys get Dedana her very own house."

"You know she's obligated to do everything Kakarot tells her, right?" Bulma slowly nodded her head. "Since neither Kakarot or Ox are here, she's doing what I tell her. She says that she can't leave my side. Sometimes she goes out, but she's really clingy."

"At least you have company. I can barely get out the house with all the work I've been doing coming up with new projects. This is the first big break I've had in a while."

"I can't wait until Kakarot and the others arrive. OH, do they know about the party?"

Bulma grinned. "I already have that settled. I told King Kai to let them all know for me. Only Kakarot and Ox agreed to come. As soon as they get here, they're going to be headed over to your house and getting dressed."

"Perfect!"

Panchy came from the kitchen once more. "I got some lemonade if you want some!"

Chi-Chi went over to greet Panchy and started small talk with her.

Ding Dong!

"Gee, another visitor already?" Bulma just wondered who it could possibly be this time. Heading back over to the main door, she opened it again.

"Hey!" Krillin greeted. He and Lazuli had their kids together.

"Hey!" Bulma warmed kindly. "I'm glad you guys could make it." She leaned in on the kids that Krillin had. "These are?"

"Marron and Castan," Krillin said.

"Hey, you cuties!" Those babies both giggled, their cheeks getting warm as their faces started to fill with happiness.

"And these are Sapphire and Spinel!" Bulma leaned over to them! Hi!"

Spinel just stared at Bulma with a blank stare. Her eyes on the boy, she didn't catch Sapphire raising her hand and smacking Bulma right across the cheek. "A-Ah..."

"HEHEHEHEHHE!" The two babies started to laugh. Lazuli couldn't help but smirk.

Krillin had the most nervous laugh of all, seeing Bulma was somewhat uncomfortable. "Haha, don't worry about them, Bulma! If it's any consolation, they're always trying to pull at hair from my bald head. And when they can't find any, they start trying to dig into my brain like a groundhog." He pointed at his head. "Check out the scars."

Bulma scrutinized Krillin's head, her eyes widening once she even saw not just one bite mark, but dozens on top of that. "Are you sure those kids are nice?"

"They obviously have my genes," Lazuli said proudly. "May we come in?"

"Yes, of course! Make yourself at home."

Both Krillin and Lazuli casually stepped inside the place. "It's looking really good, Bulma! You're gonna get a lot of guests, huh?"

"Yeah. A lot of people will be coming here to thank me and Kakarot as gratitude for helping rebuild. I tried to keep the news as low as I possibly could, but you know how it is."

"Heh, tell me about it." The blonde leaned in by Bulma. "Wanna see something funny?"

"Hm...show me."

"Yo, Krillin!"

"Yeah?" Krillin stopped looking around the room and turned to face Lazuli.

"Catch!"

The moment Krillin faced his woman, next thing he knew he had two babies flying his way. Acting on impulse, Krillin pounced off the ground and stuck his legs out, where Sapphire and Spinel managed to hold on to. Krillin remained hovering off the ground while holding all four of his children.

Both Bulma and Lazuli were trying hard to stifle their laughter as Krillin gave out a deep sigh. "You need to stop doing that..."

"I'm just testing out your fatherly instincts," she responded. "Good going."

Krillin shook his head. "Hey, Bulma. Do you have a room that will keep babies occupied? Or somewhere I can take them for a nap?"

"Just go bring them over to my dad," Bulma answered. "He'll ramble on and on and on, so they won't have a choice but to go to sleep."

Krillin smiled, relieved that'll he'd get some time for some good fun instead of having to look out for the kids 24/7. "Thanks." While hovering, Krillin changed his directions and went looking for the only other adult male in the house.

"Listen..." Lazuli waited until Krillin turned the corner, making sure he was no longer within earshot. "Krillin and I plan on throwing a celebration party of our own."

"Really?" Bulma asked. "What kind?"

"Now don't go around running your mouth," Lazuli warned. "But Krillin and I are engaged. We were thinking of throwing a party. But I don't know."

Bulma wasn't in the least surprised that they were going for marriage. She took a glance at Lazuli's hands, noting that she had a ring on her finger. "You guys shouldn't do all of that. That's just wasting money."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You guys do the wedding, and THEN you throw the party right after. You book a reservation, have everything set, do the wedding and go right to the party. For sure you know the rest."

"For sure."

"Do you know exactly when you're going to have the wedding?" Bulma asked.

Thinking about it, Lazuli didn't really know what would be the proper time to get married. "I don't know."

"Heh. I tell you what, come by my house by the end of next week and we'll start all of the planning. You don't even have to tell Krillin anything. Just make sure it's a surprise."

"Tell me what?" Krillin came from around the corner, with a wide smile on his face. "Is there something I should know about?"

"No," Lazuli folded her arms. "I'm sure you heard Bulma say make sure it's a surprise."

"Ehm...ookay..."

Bulma checked the silver watch she had on her wrist, looking at the time. "It's almost half an hour before the party really starts. Expect a lot of guests, guys."

As Bulma and the others awaited the arrival of many other people, Kakarot and Ox had all just landed just in the backyard of Capsule Corp.

The entrances to the ships opened, allowing them to finally take their first breath on earth in about 2 weeks. Ox, Kami and everyone else got a minor sense of euphoria the moment they took in their first breath.

"Finally!" Yamcha exhaled deeply. "We're here. I just got some good rest and I'm about getting ready for the party. Who else is going?"

"Ox and I have no choice," Kakarot said as he slowly ascended to the sky. "We've got to get dressed."

"Chaotzu and I are headed back home," Tien said.

"You think Launch will be there?" Chaotzu asked.

Tien shrugged. "Let's find out." It had been a while since they've seen their lady friend. He and Chaotzu took off into the sky, deciding to check up on her.

"I'm going to get dressed," Yamcha said. "I'll see you all at the party?"

"You all have the fun you can," Kami said. "You all deserve it."

"Why don't you come, too?" Yamcha asked. "You might have some fun. Boogie down with us."

"Boogie...?" A bead of sweat fell down Kami's cheek. Sorry, not quite sure I follow."

Ox laughed. "He's not the party type, Yamcha. He belongs on the lookout."

"I am in full agreement," Kami said to the five-year-old. "I really appreciate all the help you've provided for me. I promise you'll get a reward for this as well."

"What type of reward?" Kakarot asked. "I'm sure we don't need anything else."

Kami just grinned. "You know the Dragon of the Dragon Balls is only just as strong as its creator. Since I've been able to regain my youth as well as become strong enough to battle alongside the likes of you all, the powers of the Dragon Balls will be hundreds of times better than before. That means many fewer restrictions."

"Hey, that's awesome!" Yamcha exclaimed. "I could probably wish for the perfect wife...going from looks and personality." The scarred martial artist had a cheeky smile just thinking about it.

Kami chuckled. "Very well. You all have a splendid night. I must get back to Mr. Popo." Without saying anything else with them all, Kami shot off into the sky, on his way to the look-out.

"I'll see you guys in about half an hour then." Yamcha flew off as well, going to get ready for the occasion.

"Alright." Kakarot took off as well. "Let's go, Ox."

The boy followed his father in the sky, going home to get ready. As they flew through the air, Ox considered starting a conversation with him. "Dad..?"

"What is it?" He kept looking ahead, focused on his destination.

"Do you think there will be more bad guys to come and try to take over?"

"Vegeta's still out there, is he not?" Kakarot asked rhetorically. "Sooner or later, I'm going to go back out into space and try to find him."

"Seriously?" Ox asked. "May I come?"

Kakarot shook his head. "While I would like you to accompany me, this is business I must handle on my own accord. You're going to stay here with your mother and focus on your studies as well as your training."

"And if mom tells me not to train?"

Kakarot scoffed at that question. Quite frankly, he wanted to laugh out loud at it. "I know she's your mother, but she can't really tell you what to do, son. Out of you two, who's really more powerful?"

Ox slowly raised his finger, pointing at himself. "Me...?"

"You sound kind of unsure," Kakarot joked. "You're not too far behind me in terms of strength, son. She can't force you to do anything. Only I can. I'm just telling you that you focus on studies and training."

"Can I be honest with you?"

"If you're not going to be direct, then keep your trap shut." As soon as those words left his mouth, Kakarot sort of regretted responding to Ox the way he did, but he didn't say anything else and kept quiet to wait for his son to speak.

"Okay, well I really don't like fighting. I just do it because I have to. If there won't be any bad guys, then what's the point?"

Kakarot didn't really understand that viewpoint. All his life, the thing he enjoyed most than food and fine wine was fighting. With Pilaf, he spent the majority of his time fighting with Mai for training. Once his life with them was over with, he then went to Tsuru and Tao, two expert fighters, before finally going off on his own. No matter what he did, he made sure to retain his fighting instincts. It wasn't something he forced himself to do, but rather something he did naturally.

"I guess it has to do with you being a half-breed," Kakarot concluded. "You don't have the same desire like I do. That's only going to hinder your true potential in the long run. No matter if there are threats around or not, you have to remember that you should always sharpen the sword. Don't let your power wane down, nor your skills when it comes to fighting."

"But why not?" Ox asked, still not getting the point.

"For me, I love to fight. But tell me something, Ox: what happens when you spend the majority of your time lazing around, progressively losing that instinct to fight, gradually getting weaker and weaker...then all of a sudden, someone like Vegeta comes around? You'll be too weak to fight-too weak to protect yourself or the ones you claim to care about. Are you truly going to put yourself in that situation?"

Ox was finally starting to understand what Kakarot was getting at. He was a smart boy and knew that his father was right. "I get it," Ox said. "So I'll make sure to continue my training."

"As much as I would like you to fight religiously like I do myself, I won't obligate you to do so. I am simply reminding you the need to retain your own strength. You don't have to train every day, but maybe other days of the week. Just make sure that when you do train that you don't half-ass it. Because then you won't progress as you should. You understand?"

"Yeah, dad, I get it. Thank you."

Kakarot smiled. In retrospect, he realized that he just happened to dodge a bullet. If he and his son were to never have this conversation, then it'd be likely that Ox would stop with his training all together and just get weaker, not living up to the potential that he has. Seeing his home from afar, Kakarot sped up. "Now let's get ready for the party."

Back at Bulma's house, it seemed like a new person would pop up every few dozen seconds. Before she knew it, there were over 80 people there already. Some people remained in the house, socializing with one other, as others were in the front yard, doing other things. And some people were in the back, scrutinizing the ship that Kakarot and the others traveled in.

Bulma was in the middle of the living room, looking over. Everything seemed perfect. The majority of people had a smile on their face, and everything was made convenient for them. There were countless snacks, meals, beverages and what not. And the music that was playing in the background had put people in an even better mood.

"Perfect." She glanced at her watch. "Kakarot and the others should be here shortly."

DING DONG

"And another one comes." Bulma went over to the door. "Excuse me, let me pass, excuse me..." Bulma continued to squeeze and slide passed multiple people. Once she finally got to the door, she opened it. The two people she had her eyes on were the least expected of all.

Right at the door was both Duvin and Vino, two people that worked in the worldwide business that Kakarot had up and running.

"Hello," Vino greeted with a warm smile. Duvin just waved.

"Hey!" Bulma exclaimed. "Welcome, you two! Long time no see." The last time Bulma recalled seeing these guys was at the speech her and Kakarot made not too long ago.

Duvin and Vino casually walked into the place, their hands carrying multiple wine bottles at once. "Where should we set these?"

"Over at the table near the corner over there," Bulma pointed.

"Here." Vino handed Duvin the wine bottles. "Go set them down." Once he gave Duvin the bottles, he turned to face Bulma. "Did Kakarot make it in yet?"

"No, but he should be any minute now..."

Unlike the people that came before, making sure to either knock or ring the bell, the guest that came at this time surely didn't. In appeared Yamcha with a two-piece tux. "Hello, ladies!" The man had his eyes closed with his hands on his hips, expecting all types of people to look at him.

Just moments later, countless claps could be heard around the room. Some people even cheered. Hearing all this made Yamcha's ego go all the way up. Puar and Oolong were just beside him, clapping as well. 'They love me! They must know that I was the one to save an entire planet! I'm going to be getting so many hot babes tonight!' Yamcha was pumping himself up so hard inside his head. The more people clapped and cheered, the more his ego shot up, which was just about past the moon at this point.

"Kakarot! Ox!" Chi-Chi and Dedana came running at them both. Chi-Chi gave Kakarot a tight hug as Dedana did the same to Kakarot's son. Unlike Ox, Kakarot just stood there.

Yamcha immediately opened his eyes to see everyone clapping still. He turned behind him, getting a look at Kakarot. Looking back at the audience, he noted that they were all cheering for Kakarot instead of himself. Yamcha's smile turned upside down subsequent to realizing that he wasn't the one people were giving a big round of applause.

Kakarot's face was well known across the world, and with all that he did, people were bound to clap for him while in his presence. He and Ox had on black three-piece suits, matching evenly with a golden watch over their wrist, making sure to enter with style.

"It's good to be back," Kakarot commented, pushing everyone back. Everyone still had their eyes on him, Kakarot being the center of attention. He put on the same charismatic smile that everyone loved and said these five words: "Where all the wine at?"

People started to cheer and whistle and immediately went off to the bottles of wine and begin to pour. Roshi came on through the house with a one suit tux, and with a fedora and brown shoes, seemingly not even trying to put any effort into his clothing. Wearing shades inside the building just put icing on the cake. "Now this is when everyone gets drunk, hehehehehe...OH LADIES!"

Bulma watched as Roshi walked right past him, giving the old man a look of disgust. "If you guys find a woman passed out in any room of this house, make sure the first you look for is Roshi." Everyone laughed. "Enjoy yourselves!"

"I missed you!" Dedana said, speaking to Ox. "How was everything?!"

Ox began to open his mouth, though Kakarot stopped him. "I'll tell you all about it. Ox, go have fun with the other kids."

Ox smiled, already having an idea of what he wanted to do to make a quick buck. "I'm gonna go arm wrestle and place bets with the other boys."

Kakarot grinned. Ox was hustling out for some money of his own, though it was all out of fun. "Enjoy, son." Ox nodded and strutted off to find some other kids to hang around with.

"It's nice to see you're back," Dedana said. "Everything go well?"

"Everything went well enough," Kakarot said. "We're all here and alive, are we not?"

Dedana chuckled. "Next time, you're not going anywhere without me! I'm supposed to be with you at all times!"

Kakarot snorted. "Sure. Go fetch me some wine, woman."

"On it!" Dedana walked off.

"This is nice!" Chi-Chi grabbed Kakarot by the arm. "I missed you." She rubbed her face against his shoulders.

"Hey, don't ruin the suit. This costs a fortune."

"That suit is going to be ruined later on tonight anyway." She winked.

"Hm, sure..."

"Hey, Kakarot." Vino approached the Saiyan. "Long time no see."

The moment Kakarot lied eyes on Vino, he recalled the man immediately. He was the only male with a darker complexion and red hair "Indeed. It truly has been a while since I've last seen you. How is the wine shop you've been managing?"

"Everything is perfect," Vino told Kakarot. "Couldn't be any better. Everyone's getting paid and everyone's happy."

"Nice." Kakarot detached himself from Chi-Chi and placed his arms on Vino's shoulders. "We need to have a talk. Follow me." Kakarot directed himself outside.

The two were in a more secluded spot, where they'd actually be able to have a decent conversation without any interruptions. The skies were red and the sun was starting to set. "What is it that you want to talk about?"

"It's about the wine business," Kakarot told Vino. "On my trip back here, I've had a lot of time to think to myself."

"Ah, so you have ideas that will help benefit us all?"

"Something that'll benefit you and me mostly, so just listen. I know I've been letting everything run on autopilot and it's been going great. We have more customers and the money is rolling in. But I've been thinking about something."

"And they are?"

"I want to expand," Kakarot told Vino.

"Expand how?" He chuckled. "Kakarot, sir, you have shops everywhere in every part of the world. We can't possibly expand anywhere else."

"That's where you're wrong," Kakarot said. "We can expand on an intergalactic business."

" Intergalactic?" Vino had to think on that word, getting the meaning of it. It didn't take him long to get it, so he took a wild guess. "Out of space?"

"Yes," Kakarot answered. "Now not only that but I want you to be president of everything. It's already established that I'm the CEO, but whatever I tell you to do, you do it. You'll practically be running the business as if you were CEO, but I'll be the one calling the shots from behind. As for your compadre Duvin, he can be the one to run everything on this planet. You and I will be handling business on other worlds."

"Y-You're joking?! Out of space is a big step. We don't even know what's out there!" Vino then rubbed his hair. "I mean...are you sure? Our technology isn't advanced enough to travel through space so casually."

Kakarot chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about that. I personally know enough. But I have one question: do you know how to fight?"

"I've taken self-defense classes just in case someone tries to come and rob any of the shops. Unlike others, I've been tried very few times, yet no one ever leaves the store without being beaten and in handcuffs."

Kakarot knew that Vino wasn't letting off as much as he really could have in the first place. From the energy he was sensing, Vino was a lot stronger than he let off. "Just who exactly trained you?"

"A man by the name of King Chappa, one of the most skilled fighters on the planet."

"Then you'll suffice. First thing tomorrow, we're taking off. On our way, I'm going to train you to become stronger just in case we encounter any threats."

"You're joking, right?"

"Have you seen those ships in the Briefs' backyard? We'll be going in there. I want you to be here first thing 9 a.m. sharp. You tell Duvin about everything before the morning, you hear?"

Vino nodded. "You're the boss. Everything is up here and I'll be sure to not drink too much so I won't forget."

Kakarot smiled and patted the man on the back. "Good man. Now let's head back inside."

In the upper floors of Capsule Corp, Ox had an entire room filled with boys who wanted to try him out at arm wrestling so he could get some money. So far, Ox had taken on half a dozen boys and all of them failed. So far, he had one 120 Zeni. "Come on, who else?"

Pilaf and Soba were the ones managing the money right next to Ox. The three had to hide their little giggles as they all intended to steal all of Ox's hard earned money when it was said and done.

An obese looking kid decided to try. He had a cocky smile on his face, coming up by the little round table Ox was sitting at. "All I have to do is use my body weight and all of your Zeni is mine."

"Do you have money to wager?" Ox asked.

"A little pip-squeak like you shouldn't be nothing for me." The fat kid pulled out a stack of cash from his pocket and slammed it on the table. "You sure you want to wager all that? If you lose, you're in deb.?"

Ox had no doubt in his mind that he'd be able to beat the kid. He made sure to hold back enough to not end up winning too easily, otherwise nobody else would dare to even try him. He played the game smart.

In the corner, the only girl in the room was watching everyone take on Ox...and fail.

"Gotcha!" Ox said. "How much zeni do you have?"

"2,000. That's from my mom's allowance. Man, she's gonna kill me..."

"Hehehe..." Ox had a cheesy smile. "Thank you!" He looked around the room. "Anybody else wanna go?"

Pilaf and Soba were handed the stack of cash. "Hehehe..."

"Come on!" Soba encouraged. "He's just a little boy, six years old! Somebody has to take him..!"

Seeing that Ox had just beat the oldest and possibly strongest boy in the room, many others were reluctant to try. "Can we do something else?" one of the boys asked. "Like hide and go seek?"

"Yeah! We will never be able to beat you in that!" one of the other kids moaned. Others all started to speak in agreement, which displeased Ox, who was winning all kinds of money.

That was when the only little girl in the room decided to step up to the plate. "I'll go!" Even though she was a girl with pigtails, something most considered girly, she sure didn't dress like one. She had on a simple White T-Shirt with jean pants and sneakers.

Ox wasn't all too sure that he should be going up against a girl. "A-are you sure?"

"She can't beat him!" Pilaf exclaimed. The man sat back with a grin, waiting for the money to roll in.

Soba, however, wasn't too sure about that. "You think so? She looks pretty confident..."

"I'm not too sure," one of the others whispered. "I hear her dad had is a fighter, too...and he trains her!"

Everyone else immediately kept quiet and simply continued to watch. "I can beat you no problem," the girl said.

"Okay, fine. How much money do you wanna wager?"

"I want all of your money," the girl said. "If I lose, then I owe you nothing."

"Huh? But that's not fair!" Pilaf objected. "You gotta bring something to the table!"

The girl sat down in the chair and placed her elbow on it. "It's not like I'm going to lose anyway," she said. She had her right hand up and ready.

Ox shook his head. This girl had no idea just who she was about to face off against. "Fine." Ox grabbed her hand. "You ready?" With a hard look, she nodded. "Three...two...one!"

SLAM!

Ox's backhand had smashed into the roundtable, nearly breaking it. The moment the countdown hit zero, the girl smashed it down. "I win!" She exclaimed.

Ox, Pilaf, Soba, and Mai were all left dumbfounded. "H-How...?" Their eyes blinked several times. And just like that, all of the money they took so long to make was gone.

The girl took the money and flipped through the cash. "Now we can play hide and seek! The loser's it!" her fingers were pointed directly at Ox.

Ox was somewhat disappointed, but he knew it was his fault. 'I held back a lot, but she defeated me no problem! Is she a fighter, too?' Ox stood from his chair, a bit suspicious. "Mind me asking, but what's your name?"

She just smiled. "Videl! Now that you know the little girl who beat you, can we play now?"

"S-Sure..."

"You're it! Countdown from 40!" Everyone there emptied the entire room, leaving Ox to count.

Ox had to hide a smile on his face. 'I'll get her back. All I have to do is look for her energy. She's going to be it no problem.' He covered his face and closed his eyes. "One...two..." As he was counting, Ox made sure to keep track of the girl's energy, wherever she went. "25...26..." But over time, her energy suddenly fell off the map of the earth. 'What the?' The boy was quite familiar with her ki, though it just vanished. 'She can hide her power, too?' This just made him even more determined to catch her, all the more it was exciting too! He'd actually have a challenge. 'This is gonna be fun!'

Time and time passed and the party was starting to heat up a little bit. Yamcha, Roshi, and Oolong all spent their time speaking with the females, mostly the intoxicated ones, trying to get a babe for the night.

Kakarot and Chi-Chi were drinking up a storm. This was something his woman never did, but he talked her into it for the night. Chi-Chi spent the majority of her time in the house, so she needed to do something.

Bulma looked around and saw that everyone was having a hell of a time. It was late out at night and she felt everyone could use a bit more fun. The woman went near the stereo. "Alright! Let's really get down!" She first dimmed the lights even more and had countless neon light suddenly appear, making it look like they were in a disco. "Here!" With one press of the button, an entirely different tune came on.

The music was hyping people up and in no time, people got together.

"Oh lawd! She do me do you, she's got that kind of lovin!" Everyone gave out a yell of approval and started getting down with the music. "She do me she do you she do me she do you, she's got that kind of lovin! Oh lawd!"

The celebration party turned into something of a club as people danced to the remix of some stranger yodeling. Though regardless, people were having a good time and that was all that mattered.

Panchy continued to bake cookies in the kitchen. As she did, she started to shake her hips, getting fond of the music. Dr. Briefs slid in the kitchen, a cigarette in his mouth. The man had to be careful with his dance moves as he didn't want to break a hip, but as he started to dance, he was beginning to not care

Everyone danced for the rest of the night, which just got away as everyone partied. The kids all played hide and seek in the upper rooms. Krillin and Lazuli's babies were dead sleep during all the noise. Everything was just perfect.

It lasted all night and practically every adult didn't leave the house at least a tad bit drunk. Fortunately, no accidents happened on the way back home.

"It's nice to see everyone have so much fun." Kami was on the look-out, getting right back to his job. "They deserve it after all the hell that they've been through."

Even though Kami had taken back his place as guardian, Lapis was yet to leave the look-out. "If I were you and happened to get my youth back, I'd be dancing it out, too."

Kami left out a soft snicker, seeing Lapis was just joking. "Yes, but I'm nothing like humans. Regardless, I like how everything seems to be going right now."

"I still can't over this new look," Mr. Popo said. "You look like the Kami I met when he first came to the lookout those 500 years ago."

Kami just smiled. "Yes, a lot had happened on Planet Namek. It doesn't really matter if I'm young or old, only that things go the way they're meant to. And I can promise you one thing...I won't ever leave this look-out again. You won't be alone, Mr. Popo."

"Oh, please..." Lapis joked. "I practically babied him when I was up here. I bet he wants me as Guardian as earth now."

"Ohhohoho," Mr. Popo chuckled. "I did enjoy your company, but I really prefer Kami here."

Lapis could only grin. "Yeah, I know. It's not as boring being up here as I initially thought. I got some good training up here while it lasted."

"You know you're welcome here anytime," Kami told Lapis. "Thank you for taking my position in my absence."

"Anytime, old man...wait, I can't say that anymore. Heh." Lapis hopped off the look-out and turned around, giving both Kami and Mr. Popo a salute. "So long." Turning back around, Lapis blasted off through the dark clouds of the night.

"Hey, Mr. Popo..."

"Yes, Kami?"

"Get the model for the Dragon out...we have some ameliorations to make." Mr. Popo nodded and went to get the model. Looking over the look-out, Kami was well aware that all the fun and peace wouldn't last for long. He closed his eyes and gave out a sigh of relief, with a smile. "The least we can do is enjoy it."

* * *

 **A/N: If you didn't catch it, the song that Bulma put on is a remix of the yodeling walmart kid, lmao. I couldn't resist. Catch ya'll next saturday**


	45. Moving On

That party Bulma threw had lasted all night long until dawn came about. During the party, more and more guests arrived, though that simply added to the fun everyone was having. Kakarot would have stayed longer if he didn't have business to tend to the following day. He left quite intoxicated around midnight, as did the others in his household. Dedana was sleeping peacefully in her own room as well as Ox.

In Kakarot's room, there wasn't particularly a lot of peace throughout the night. He arrived home around 12:15, albeit he didn't go to sleep until 1:30. The bright sunshine blew rays through his curtains and woke him up. Regardless of how late he went to sleep, the sun was always the main thing to wake him. He removed the white silky covers from his body and rolled over a bit, sitting on the edge of the bead. The Saiyan rubbed his throbbing head, which felt like little stings coming at him all simultaneously. He only had on his undergarments, seeing that his clothes, as well as Chi-Chi's was scattered all around the floor. He took a look over to Chi-Chi, who was sleeping after quite the wild night subsequent to arriving home. The woman didn't have anything on except her underwear as well. The covers veiled her thighs and waist. Kakarot grinned at the fact that Chi-Chi was still in bed. Every time they slept together, she'd be the first person up, making breakfast for everyone in the house. 'Looks like I wore her out.'

Kakarot could tell what time it was just by looking out the window once he stood up. He could tell the time by looking at the sun and knew how much he had before he started the day. "I have about 3 hours to get ready." The first place he headed to was the bathroom, where he stripped and hopped in an ice cold shower. Once the water hit him, it woke him up immediately, he could feel the throbbing pain he had felt as soon as he woke up gradually fading away.

After showering for 30 minutes, it had costed Kakarot 5 more getting dressed in armor similar to what he usually wore as a kid, though Bulma made her own twist on it. The Saiyan had green armor, though he had an entire set of black under his armor, which covered his chest as well as his legs, reaching down to his very ankle. He had a capsule full of those clothes and didn't expect to run out anytime soon once he was to go out and train in the Gravity Chamber, traveling out in space.

Once he was dressed, Kakarot walked down the stairs, figuring he should be one to cook breakfast. He had eggs, bacon and some bowl of rice with lots of dim sum and some bread. He knew that what he was cooking just had to be good. Had he still had his tail, it'd be wagging from side to side in anticipation. Hell, he had the urge to eat it all up at the current moment. Time passes and it seemed like Chi-Chi and Ox were far too tired to wake up, even with the delicious scent roaming around the house.

Unlike them two, Dedana was the very first person to come out from her room, rubbing her drowsy, purple eyes. "Mornin'." Kakarot munched down on a piece of bread and gave himself a mouth full of eggs. He acknowledged Dedana with a simple nod and kept on eating, wanting to get through with his morning as quickly as possible.

Dedana took one look at Kakarot and saw that he was already in his armor. Usually, in the morning, he'd be around with very few clothes, so she knew something was up for today. "What are you all dressed up for? What's the occasion?"

Kakarot glimpsed at the clock that stuck to the wall across from him. "In 2 hours, I'll be headed out. Vino and I have business to handle." He took another bite of his food.

"Headed out where?" Dedana sat down on a chair close to Kakarot.

"Out of space," Kakarot told her with a mouth full. "I have an idea about bringing my business out into space and seeing just how much I could get out of it."

"In space?" Dedana asked with a furrowed brow. She thought of all the dangers that were out there and wasn't quite with the idea like Kakarot was. "I'm not too sure you want to do that."

"And why's that?" Kakarot took a sip of wine from the counter.

"There's this man out there," Dedana started. "From what I've been told by my people, he rules the entire universe, holding it in the palm of his hand. He's the most terrifying and powerful per-"

"We already beat Freeza," Kakarot said, cutting Dedana off. The Saiyan sat down his half-full cup of orange juice, which was on the opposite side of his plate where the glass of wine was.

"Wait, what? When?"

"When we were on Namek," Kakarot answered. "Primarily, the main problem was Vegeta, though Freeza came into the fold. It was tough, but we beat him in the end. That's what I was meant to talk to you about in the party, but it slipped my mind."

"You can't be serious! I've heard so many stories about him..." Dedana couldn't begin to fathom just how much Kakarot and the others went through just to be able to destroy such a monster.

"Well those stories are just stories now." Finishing his meal, Kakarot raised himself from the chair. "I plan on infiltrating his business and twisting it into my own."

"How?" Dedana asked.

Kakarot already knew where he wanted to go first. "You may want to come with..."

"I wasn't going to take no for an answer," Dedana told Kakarot, standing up as well.

"Sure," Kakarot said. The Saiyan looked over her body for a brief moment before looking right at her. "But go put on some clothes. I don't intend on walking around with someone who's nude."

"I do have on underwear," Dedana said.

"Just get dressed before my kid wakes up," Kakarot responded firmly.

Dedana grinned and simply closed her eyes. "You know...those same powers I have for you." A little glow surrounded her before flashing in a bright white light. Kakarot just stood there and watched until it faded. Once he had his eyes on her again, Dedana was wearing the exact same clothing that he had on, though her armor with the shape of a skirt. "Works for me, too." She had her black hair down passed her shoulders in one single ponytail. It looked like she went through an entire morning routine without having to do anything at all.

"If you plan on coming with us, you need to know how to fight. We're going to be training in the Gravity Chamber."

"I know how to use energy but that's about it." Some of the people in her past life were fighters and some taught her a few things. She did know to fly after all.

"You'll learn more the next following days then. Since we still have ample time, make breakfast for those who haven't waken up yet."

"On it."

* * *

"So tell me about this boy you met."

Out in the rocky lands, Piccolo stood with his arms crossed, towering over the little girl accompanying him. "I was playing a game, called hide and go seek. Do you know it?" The little girl was named Videl and happened to be training with Piccolo for some time now. Ever since Mark, her father, had asked of him to train her, Piccolo decided to help, not knowing what else he'd be able to do with his life.

Piccolo had lived for hundreds of years. Yes, he was an alien, but he was very used to human customs. "Yes, I know it. So what about it?"

"At the party, I beat him in arm wrestling, but I couldn't sense his energy like you trained me too! Isn't that weird?"

'At Bulma's party, huh?' Piccolo was sure that if anything, Kakarot's kid must have been there. "Not weird at all," Piccolo told Videl. "Appearances are deceiving. Just because someone may look a certain way, it doesn't mean that they don't know as much as you or maybe even more. There will be many surprises like that in your lifetime. All you need to be is prepared for them."

Videl had a wide grin on her face, having yet again learned something new from her master apart from fighting. All this knowledge had got her excited. In the back of her mind, she wondered just how much of a warrior she would turn out to be by the time she was full grown. Since she was training with Piccolo, she wore the exact same Gi as he did. Videl spread her legs out a bit and placed her arms before her face with her fingers bent. "Ready when you are, Mr. Piccolo."

"Hmp!" Piccolo swayed his cape back. "Come at me full power!"

Videl jumped off her back foot, looking to strike Piccolo head on. They had both been doing training for a good time now, more than enough for Videl to get a good feel of ki. When she would get tired, Piccolo would give her a senzu bean and have them resume their training. It was from morning to night every single day. Videl had been showing true determination and that she wanted to absolutely be the strongest she could possibly be. Piccolo didn't have a problem with training a person in his own image. It was better than doing nothing after all. Besides, the girl rubbed off well on him. He wouldn't dare to admit it, though.

"It looks like he's finally coming around, Mr. Popo." When Mr. Popo had told Kami about Piccolo's recent actions in his absence, Kami couldn't believe it. The man had to see it for himself, never thinking Piccolo would be one to stop his evil ways. And now here he was, watching his counterpart train a young girl. "All of this, just because of one incident?"

"Not one incident," Mr. Popo corrected. "He made a promise. And so far he's been upholding it."

"She's only a six-year-old girl, a child" Kami said. "And she's a strong one, too. If she keeps this up she could very well be the strongest human this world has ever seen." Kami rubbed his wrinkled chin, contemplating on many things. "I simply hope he doesn't poison her with an evil mindset."

"I agree," Mr. Popo said. "The last person we've seen fighting so young turned out to be one of the strongest we've ever seen."

"Kakarot," Kami said, knowing to whom Mr. Popo was referring. He recalled Kakarot as a young boy, being trained how to use guns and swords when he was merely three years old under Pilaf's roof. "He's a peculiar one, him. It's hard to tell what he really wants out of life-besides food and fighting."

"Maybe we'll see soon," Mr. Popo commented.

"Perhaps, Mr. Popo. Perhaps."

* * *

More than an hour had passed and Dedana had made more breakfast so there would be enough food for the others as well. Seeing it was almost time to go, Kakarot got ready to head out of the door.

"Leaving already?" Chi-Chi asked, coming down the stairs, wobbly.

"Business doesn't wait for you," Kakarot responded. "We have 30 minutes before nine. Once we go and pick up our best products, we should arrive by Bulma's house in just 25 minutes."

"Kakarot..." Chi-Chi neared him once she came down the stairs and placed her hands on his hardened cheeks. "You remember the last time you left us..."

Kakarot remembered for sure. That was when the entire planet was attacked by androids in his absence. He knew that Chi-Chi was worried something like that would happen again, though Kakarot wasn't anxious in the slightest. "Remember...last time Ox or anyone else was barely strong enough to defend themselves. If something is to happen again, let them all handle it. Simple as that."

"Dad's right!" Ox said, coming down the stairs. "If anything happens, I'll take care of them."

Kakarot grinned, proud to see his son would be one to take up after everything during his absence. "That a boy. See? Everything will be fine." Kakarot placed his hand on Chi-Chi's head and ruffled her hair up a bit. "I'll be back before you know it." He rubbed her chin for a few seconds before pulling away, headed out the door. Dedana followed directly behind Kakarot.

The two took off into the air, leaving their home. Neither looked back to see Chi-Chi or Ox, who were both still watching them on their way. "So where exactly do you intend on going to first?" Dedana asked.

"Planet Anded," Kakarot responded. "Your homeworld."

Dedana wasn't quite too sure about that. Just hearing the name of her home planet made her shake a bit. She couldn't think of anything but bad memories from her world now. "But why? Isn't there somewhere else we can go?"

"No," Kakarot shook his head. "That's the only place I can think of. I know Freeza would have us conquer planets and sell them off to the highest bidder. We go there and see just who are the people there now. They will be the ones we take as our first customers."

"Are you sure about that?" Dedana asked.

"Yes," Kakarot responded. "I'm positive. Is there a problem with that?" He noticed that Dedana wasn't all too confident in his ideas by the hesitant tone of voice she had at the present moment. He knew that Dedana knew that it was either his way or the highway. Any other way, he wouldn't dare permit.

Dedana shook her head, not wanting to irk her master. "At first, I didn't see the reason for going to my homeworld, but after hearing you speak, it makes sense now. But do you really know Freeza and how his business works?"

"I know enough," Kakarot told her. Kakarot, indeed, did have a lack of experience when it came to the functions of Freeza's organization, though he recalled what he was told by his late brother Raditz when he came to earth a couple of years ago. With the information conveyed from Raditz to him, Kakarot decided to wing it and go big, being an opportunist at heart.

"Do you know about his father?" Dedana asked, stretching out the conversation. After a few seconds of silence from her master, she knew that Kakarot was ignorant to that. The Saiyan didn't seem to have a pleasant look on his face if Freeza was to truly have a father still running out and about. If he was anything like Freeza, he'd be just as much trouble to handle as his son was, perhaps even more. "He has a father who is usually behind everything-from what the old people in my planet told me."

"You remember all that?" Kakarot said.

Dedana just nodded. "But if you can handle Freeza, you can handle his dad, right?"

About that, Kakarot wasn't entirely too sure anymore. 'If I have to face him, then I might have more trouble than what I had against Freeza.' Kakarot recalled that fight with Freeza and realized that he wouldn't stand a chance in hell without the help of Yamcha and the others. That was the only way they managed to beat Freeza in the first place If not for them, he'd be a dead man by now. He had no idea just how powerful the man who spawned Freeza was, but he had to be powerful in just being Freeza's father himself. While not certain of things to come, Kakarot was going to have to get rid of him and any other threats, and by any means necessary.

"So it's simple," Kakarot said. "When we get there, we're going to ask the people for the man known as Freeza's father."

"And if they don't have any information?" Dedana asked.

"Then they're lying," Kakarot said. "If they do business with Freeza, then it's without a doubt that they've done business with his father as well. If they haven't, then they must know of him at the very least."

"I just hope they're not hostile people," Dedana said. "If so, you'll probably have to go to doing bad things again."

Kakarot remained silent, thinking on Dedana's words. Looking back on it, he had calmed down much after he moved in with Chi-Chi and her late father so many years ago. Before, as a young man, he would fight and fight in the most brutal manner possible and he came off as a generally wild and untamable boy, rambunctious to the core. He was still that same man that loved to fight, though he settled down upon having his own business as well as a family to take care of. If he had to beat people up to extract information, he had no problem doing so. Going back to the person he was before simply would be a means to an end.

What harm could come of that?

* * *

"So you're really going out there in space?" Bulma asked.

"Yes," Vino replied. "There's a first for everything, I suppose." The man was dressed in a brown two piece suit with a dark tie, ready to start the day. He made sure that his red hair was pushed to the side, not letting any bangs get in the way of his sight.

Bulma and Dr. Briefs were inside one of the labs with Vino, who had arrived a bit earlier than Kakarot told him so he could be sure that he'd be on time. The purple hair woman was looking over some Senzu beans, studying them a bit still.

"There must be no better experience than that," the old man, Bulma's father, said. "Trust me...and I've experienced a lot of things." He winked at the man as he patted his black kitten that remained glued to his shoulders atop his lab coat.

"Chill out," Bulma scolded her father, who just puffed on his cigarette and continued working on his personal machine.

Vino checked his watch, which read 8:58. "I should be heading out. You did put our supply in there, yes?"

"Yes...but don't you need food, too?"

"Nah...I live on wine." Vino turned around, making way towards the exit door.

"What kind of person lives on wine?" Bulma watched as Vino walked out the room. She knew something about that man had to be out of the ordinary. "W-wait! He's an alien, too!?"

"Huh?" Dr. Briefs put goggles off his face and had his head leaning out from the side. "You telling me that you didn't notice that, honey?"

"We have talking animals! If anything, he's normal, dad!"

Meow!

"Tama would disagree with you," Dr. Briefs said, petting his cat to call him down.

Bulma huffed. "Let's get back to work, please."

Vino walked out the room, holding a pouch of beans in his hand as he came outside. "I wonder if these things really work as she said they do." He only heard of the magical wonders that the green beans held, yet he never tried it yet. That was one of many things he was looking forward to on his trip with Kakarot out of space.

"You're right on time." Kakarot and Dedana came from the skies, landing just by him, right in the backyard of Capsule Corp. "Did you tell Duvin about everything?"

"Yes," Vino told Kakarot. "He's setting meetings in motion and business will continue as normal. None of the people know about the intergalactic business we're trying to establish, but they're going to tell something's going on when the extra money starts running in."

Kakarot grinned. "We're going to have to establish someone to convert the currency we get as well-if things get up and running of course."

"You guys really talked this through, haven't you?" Dedana asked.

"No," Kakarot said. "It was an idea that I brought to Vino yesterday-simple as that. We're going to wing it."

Vino laughed at that, looking over to Dedana. "And who's this beautiful lady?"

"I'm his sl-"

"Friend," Kakarot said. "A childhood friend. She wants to come in with me."

"And you're sure Chi-Chi is fine with that."

"That is none of your business," Kakarot sternly said. "Now let's not waste time and get out of here."

Dedana and Vino both agreed and followed Kakarot to the ship in the backyard of Capsule Corp. Knowing everything really well, Kakarot went straight to the control panel and began to press certain buttons, starting the ship up.

"This place looks very nice," Dedana said, taking a look over the spacious room in the gravity chamber.

"I thought it'd be more spacious," Vino commented.

"Don't worry about the space," Kakarot told them. The ship slowly started to ascend into the sky and shook a bit before it suddenly took off like a rocket. "We should be on that planet in a matter of days...much faster compared to the last ship I used."

"So, when do we start training?" Vino asked.

Kakarot looked over the control panel, seeking one button to start their travel just right. Having found it, he pressed it and set the numbers to how he felt fit. In just a matter of seconds, Vino and Dedana were both sent crashing to the floor. They weren't lying face first, but they had a hard time simply staying on their knees. After seeing them struggle so much, Kakarot looked back at the number he set on the gravity machine. "Oh...I actually meant to go 5 times earth's gravity...this is fifteen."

"Holy..."

"You're both doing much better than I thought. Now we start our training lessons." Both Dedana and Vino had an extremely hard time just getting back on their feet. Seeing them struggle so much made Kakarot accept that getting these two into fighting like him would hinder his own personal progress in strength, but he personally didn't mind it for the time being.

He didn't have time for weak comrades.

* * *

Kakarot wasn't the only one hoping to start his very own business, though so was Vegeta as well. The Saiyan landed on a nearby planet of which Freeza owned and announced just that he defeated Freeza and he was to be the one taking over from now on. Fearing the power of this supposed 'Super Saiyan', people didn't even dare to question him.

But Vegeta didn't take Freeza's spot as ruler of the universe, even though he felt he deserved it. In the back of his mind, the one person he couldn't get out of it was Kakarot of course. The Saiyan felt that he needed to truly achieve this newfound power in order to truly defeat Kakarot for sure. While he walked around, countless people either praised or ignored him. He didn't get much of the former on a regular basis as he spent the majority of his time honing his fighting skills in the training rooms.

In one of the training centers of the planet Freeza used to own, Vegeta would spend hours upon hours pushing himself. Each day that passed by, it was the very same routine. When people wanted to ask something of Vegeta, they'd just go to him, already knowing where'd he be. This was just the planet of course...the entire universe was yet to be his totally.

But he was working on it.

* * *

"So you're telling me that this 'Super Saiyan' killed my son?"

King Cold looked like Freeza in basically every way, in regards to the man's first and second form. He was a much bigger version of his son and more intimidating appearance wise.

Before he was five people highly respected for their strength and abilities, all who used to have their loyalties with Freeza and Freeza only. Since he had perished on Namek, they had someone to fall back on. And that man was King Cold. The five members that were now under his rule had the title of the Ginyu Force, the most infamous group throughout all the galaxy.

"Yes," the leader of the squad said. He was a humanoid with bright purple skin and stood at a very tall height. The thing that stuck out the most about him was the two black spiky horns that stuck out from his forehead "We didn't know if it were true, but we couldn't track a thing from him, sire. We just got back from Planet Yardrat, hearing the news. I didn't want to chance it, so I came to you, sire."

King Cold sighed. "This man that claims to have killed Freeza...do you have any idea where he may be as of right now?"

"Planet Freeza #70," Ginyu answered. "That's where we have been told by an inside man. Do we attack him now?"

"I'll just blow up the planet and get it over with," Cold said. "Regardless of being a Super Saiyan, he won't outlive that. No monkey happened to be capable of surviving out in the empty vacuum of space."

"Sounds perfect," Burter, a fellow member said. He was one of the taller members of the force, standing taller than his own captain. He was a blue-skinned male with similar armor to the others, though what stuck out about him was his red iris, which held a complete lack of pupils.

"Don't you want to face him though?" Ginyu questioned. "I want to see this Saiyan's power for myself. There shouldn't be someone out there to simply claim to have beaten Lord Freeza without getting tested surely, M'lord."

King Cold wasn't too sure about that. If his son was really dead, then it would have to take the power of a Super Saiyan to actually kill him-if such a thing even existed of course. He wasn't too sure. It would simply be easy enough to blow up the man along with the planet, discarding the collateral damage.

"I don't want people to look at you in the wrong light, sir. You're just as strong as Lord Freeza, so maybe you can defeat this Saiyan."

"There were more people fighting on Planet Namek," Jeice, another member of the force spoke out. He was shorter than the taller members with red skin and had long, white hair that passed his bottom. "He couldn't have been the only one."

Cold huffed. He was getting tired of talk and preferred to simply take action. Ginyu sure did make a valid point. For a person to claim to have beaten Freeza was something that tainted Cold's name and what he was known for. If he just went to blow up the planet, having not faced the Super Saiyan head on, it would merely show more weakness, something he didn't stand for. Reputation was everything in his orginization. To be either respected or feared were top priorities with his position. And if he had the death of the Super Saiyan by his own bare hand witnessed, then he'd have both. "To hell with it. I want a message to go around that I will be there and challenge that fool myself. Blowing up the planet would be far too easy, I suppose. I want to embarrass him and kill the legend with his supposed legacy.

"Now that sounds like a plan," Recoom, a tall male of white skin complexion and orange hair said aloud. "I want to see you pummel him into the ground, sir!"

King Cold grinned as the members of the Ginyu Force egged him on to making the Saiyan suffer before he killed him. He wanted to make sure that the Saiyan got the message before he made his arrival.

* * *

After spending countless hours in the training room, Vegeta decided to give it a break and allow himself to rest before he hit the training room yet again. Eventually, he would have an attack placed on Planet Earth, though in the meantime, he needed to get stronger. The Saiyan walked out shirtless, drenched in sweat from head to toe. Many people all backed to the side in fear as Vegeta just walked around freely with the same hardened mug he always walked with.

Vegeta dried himself off with a towel on his way to the training room before tending to the messing hall. What he didn't expect was someone to come out of nowhere and interrupt his personal agenda.

"Vegeta, sir!" a soldier came running at him, taking deep breaths.

Vegeta stopped, hearing a voice from behind calling his name. "Whatever it is that you want to speak with me about, it better be urgent."

"It is. King Cold is headed to this planet as we speak! And it's not just about business sire. He wants a genuine audience with you."

'King Cold?' Such a name was unfamiliar to Vegeta. Out of all his years in the business, he didn't hear it not once. "Who the hell is that?" he asked, turning around to face this breathless soldier.

"The one who conceived Freeza! He's headed here and says he wishes to challenge your Super Saiyan might. We just got word of that minutes ago!"

Vegeta stopped in place. The man had a knot on his forehead, though not out of just anxiousness, but excitement. He never heard of Freeza's father before, but if he had a chance to fight the man who created him, then Vegeta would take it. He looked at it as if it was redemption for himself. If he could beat Cold, then maybe he truly did deserve the title as the ruler of the universe. He'd only have to kill Cold to find out, though.

"How many days until he arrives?" Vegeta questioned the soldier.

"Just a week's time, sir. Whoever wins the battle will be the one to take all."

Vegeta had to suppress a smile from his face. "Then I guess I need to put in more work." Turning around, Vegeta walked right past the soldier and headed right back to the training room. 'I'm going to take all the time I can get just so I can beat that bastard.' Vegeta wasn't going to wast time handling the business he knew that he had to get through with.

* * *

"Now you're getting the hang of it." Kakarot had been spending consecutive hours just trying to get Vino used to ki. After he finally formed his first ball of energy, he launched it for Kakarot, who smacked it away with ease. "Still child's play for me though."

Dedana had been spending her time walking and throwing simple punches to the air, trying to get accustomed to the gravity. Kakarot sighed, yet to get any good training for himself. 'I'm not going to have any time for training at all. If I have to get these two into shape, then I have to babysit them 24/7.' The Saiyan was greatly disappointed, though he knew what he had to do.


	46. The imminent Arrival

Ox didn't mind his father taking off this time, quite positive that no tragic events would take place similar to the previous time in his father's absence. And at the very least he'd be prepared this time. In his room, he had stacks of papers and books with pencils and other equipment one would use for their school. When he got bored for a bit, he'd look through the window and just daydream. He did his training first thing in the morning so he'd spend the majority of his day studying. It was a rather dull routine with nobody to accompany him, but he got accustomed to it. This was basically what he did day after day prior to Freeza, or the Red Ribbon Army attacking, so it was familiar to him.

"Ox!" Chi-Chi called, her voice resonating throughout the entire house.

"Hm?" he stopped his reading and looked up outside, seeing that the bright light hadn't gone away, not even for a brief second. 'The sun isn't going down...so dinner can't be ready yet." He backed his chair up and hopped off, deciding to tend to his mother.

"OX!" Chi-Chi called again. "You have a visitor!"

In the front, Bulma was by the door with a little pouch in her hands. She had woke up early this morning and figured Ox could use that genius brain of his to help her work. Either that or he'd be able to learn something new. She had been talking with Chi-Chi for a bit, explaining what the occasion was today.

"So that's what you need him for?"

Bulma nodded. "Yep. Honestly, I say it's about time."

Chi-Chi turned around, her eyes on her son, who just got down the stairs. "Bulma's here to pick you up."

He was a little confused. Usually when Bulma was to require his assistance for something or anything at all, he would be warned the day before. Her unexpected arrival to his home must have been that was something was going on. Just what could Bulma want him for at the time being? "What's up?"

"It's an update on the senzu beans," Bulma told him. "Come on." The woman turned around and headed over to her jet. "I promise we won't be long, Chi-Chi!"

Ox followed Bulma into the cruiser and sat on the passenger side, closing the door once he got set. While Chi-Chi stood by the entrance of her house, she didn't quite know what to think at the moment. Her boy was still relatively young. She expected at least another ten years before he went off to do his own thing. If it was up to her, he'd be in the house 24/7 studying all day, though Kakarot wasn't very amicable when it came to that topic. He was okay with him studying, but no fighting was a no-no. Chi-Chi thought she was a stubborn person, though her husband was something else entirely.

The cruiser ascended into the sky before it took off so suddenly. She sighed and went back inside the house. It'd be the first time she was alone for a long time.

"Is he finally going to give us the secret ingredient?" Ox asked. The boy was somewhat excited about this. If the mystical cat would seriously give them all the information about the senzu beans, then it'd be all the better for them. No matter the occasion, they'd be capable of using it anytime they pleased. If they were in hard times, senzus would come in handy for sure.

Bulma smirked. "I was there a couple of hours ago. You won't believe what the last ingredient was."

Ox had thought about this numerous times before in the past already. And it felt like every conclusion he happened to come to was simply negative. "What was it?"

"Tap water!" Bulma tried to hold it in after she said it, but the woman busted out laughing. "He really tricked us. It was tap water the entire time."

"Really?" Ox asked, his voice soft and low tone. "That's underwhelming..."

"But he tricked us for good reason," Bulma said. "When I was there, he explained to me that he wanted to see how we would use the senzu beans. Apparently, he thought we'd try to make a business out of it or that we'd abuse it. I thought about doing it, but I soon realized that it would only bring more trouble than necessary. When he figured that we only used those for fighting bad guys to help this world, he decided to tell us. Seeing we weren't simply selfish had him change his mind."

"Wow!" Ox exclaimed. "That makes a lot of sense. He's smart."

"Yep!" Bulma steered the wheel, heading into the city. "If you're wondering why I have you with me, I just want you to see how many beans we managed to grow in the past hour." Bulma kicked up the speed of her cruiser, making their journey a lot shorter than it had to be.

Ox had a smile on his face. So far things were going right. They could practically have an endless supply of senzu beans, though they weren't that high in demand right now. Bulma decided to grow just enough for everyone she knew to be a fighter.

The purple haired woman was the plug of senzu beans. Whenever there was a threat, she made sure everyone had their own supply. "Your jaw is gonna drop to the floor...but that'll be nothing compared to how Pilaf and the others reacted, hehe."

* * *

"Tch...we're starting to run out." Kakarot put the bag of senzus back onto the dashboard of the control panel of his ship. It had been a few days now since they've been traveling. Both Dedana and Vino seemed to be making good progress as far when it came to gaining power in strength.

The two were fighting one another in the gravity chamber evenly. Dedana had the advantage over Vino when it came to ki control, though Vino was much more skilled, having had a good amount of experience when it came to fighting throughout his lifetime on Planet Earth. Their disadvantages practically canceled one another out in battle, thus making their spars a stalemate each and every time

Kakarot barely had time to train for himself as he was too busy making sure Dedana and Duvin were both equally prepared for battle if it would ever have to come to that. Kakarot walked over to the control panel and pressed a few buttons, resetting the gravity back to default. The pressure in the room slowly went down, allowing everyone to feel the normal gravity that each of them was adept to naturally.

Dedana and Vino fell over on the floor by surprise. "W-What are you doing?" Dedana asked, lying on top of Duvin. Both were huffing and puffing, extremely exhausted. Had they kept fighting and training through the tough gravity, they would have kept pushing themselves. The moment Kakarot set the gravity back to default, they came tumbling down immediately.

"We're 15 minutes away from landing," Kakarot answered. "Relax yourselves and wait until we land."

Dedana picked herself up and wiped away some of the sweat from her face. Vino was just as tired and did the same. "So we should just relax?"

"Yes," Kakarot responded. "No funny business either. We don't have time for any of that." Dedana opened a square shaped door on the floor. She walked down the stairs and made it into the only room of the ship. Vino followed down as well so they could both equally rest.

It had only been about a year since Kakarot had last been here on a mission to wipe out the world's own inhabitants. Since then, the planet has been sold out and new various species came together here as one to reside in. Planet Anded was what is used to be known for. Now, Kakarot was sure that the planet was run on an entirely new name.

The majority of the people were yellow-skinned creatures that had a skewed physical structure. They had one eye, one arm, one leg...one for everything that was usually required for two. Some walked around while a great bit of them all worked on making their own civilization. Even after consecutive months of having this planet, they still had a lot of building to do to genuinely refine their new world.

One of the workers in a field was digging up a hole so they could shove a drill down there to extract some resources for a certain cause. One of the men was exhausted and took a break. He let the drill fall over to the ground and wiped his sweaty forehead. Looking up, he spotted one giant ship beginning to land on their world.

Kakarot closed his eyes, sensing out for all the countless ki he could feel on this world. Once he figured out the largest of them all, he compared the powers to those of Dedana and Vino, who were just coming from below after having rested for a little while.

"If there happens to be a problem of any sorts, neither of you will run into any ordeals. Do you have the wine, Duvin?"

Vino had a pocket full of capsules and had a brown bag with wine bottles inside. "Here it is, sir."

Kakarot smiled. Everything was set and he was hoping that this would be the start of something...new. No matter how, when or where he had to start to get his own business running, it was a start. "Alright." With the click of one button, the doors to the Capsule Corporation Ship opened.

Many locals in the area all gathered around to see what was going on. None of them figured the mysterious people in this ship had good intentions, which caused the majority of the residents to be anxious. "Stand back, stand back!"

Some of the stronger people pulled up with a gun strapped to their waist. All were ready to fire whenever it felt necessary. There were a few dozen of them with weapons, most of them pushing back the locals to keep them away from any danger while a few others had their guns pointed to the ship.

"Is it Lord Freeza?" one of the men asked. Everyone here knew of Freeza and his father, being very familiar with the type of business the late tyrant had run in the past. That was the man they brought the planet from after all.

"Couldn't be," somebody else answered.

Before them appeared three people...people nobody happened to expect. Just by solely looking at them, people could tell they weren't from here. "Judging by their looks, they don't seem to be apart of Freeza's force."

Kakarot overheard people murmuring on and on about Freeza this and Freeza that. He could only imagine what their reactions would be when he was to tell them that he took part in the death of Freeza himself.

"Who are you and what are you here for?" All of the guarded men had their guns in their hand. Since there was only one hand they all had, they had a button directly next to where they handled the weapon. All they had to do was press just in case they wanted to fire.

"I've come for an offering with a total lack of hostility towards your people," Kakarot spoke. "The man you know as Lord Freeza is now dead...partially thanks to me."

"BULLSHIT!" someone immediately shouted.

Among some other exclamations of disbelief as well as gasps and murmurs, Kakarot wasn't offended at all. He didn't expect anything less from these people. He knew it'd be hard to believe for anybody, having seen Freeza's power for himself.

"Calm down!" one of the soldiers yelled. "What you may not know is that we did recently get a call in of a man claiming to have killed Freeza..."

"So it may be true after all..." one man mumbled.

"It is," Kakarot said. "Hell, I witnessed it myself."

"What is this offering you speak of? You don't plan on enslaving us do you?"

"PFFT!" Dedana chuckled. "Of course n-"

Kakarot placed the back of his hand before her face, shutting Dedana up quick. Once she was silent, he looked back over to the crowd. "Not at all," Kakarot said. "I do intend on you all getting word out on how Kakarot is the one who is going to take over Freeza's organization and twist it into his own little way. Vino...if you will."

Vino pulled out a bottle of wine from the brown paper bag he had and tossed it to one of the people, who caught it. Kakarot blasted the cap open with a near microscopic energy of ki. "Have at it."

The person holding it didn't quite know exactly what he was supposed to do. Such a thing was very peculiar to him and his people. He knew not what to do with it. "W-What?"

"You drink it!" a member of the audience yelled, having figured it out.

"Oh..." he slowly picked up the bottle of wine and took a big swig. Kakarot's smile grew wide as he witnessed the first sample being taken. It was inevitable: he was going to get his business to kick off one way or another. And regardless of how it was to go...it would start at this moment.

The man put down the bottle for a moment, his facial expression full of bewilderment, though amazed at the very same time. "W-we've never had this..whatever it is, it's amazing!" he took another swig, chugging down the entire bottle. Seeing the man greatly pleased by the drink made everyone else somewhat intrigued as well. Once he was done, he lifted the bottle, wine dripping from his chin to the ground below. "More, please!?"

"How good is that?" someone else asked.

"Listen..." Kakarot started. "We have an entire shop of this inside these tiny little capsules." He pointed behind him towards Vino, who was holding the capsules. "All we need to do is make business happen here." Taking a look around, Kakarot observed that this world was still a work in progress since he and the others pillaged this world long ago. "You can very well make your own shop here...we'll keep making the product, though you're all going to have to buy it from us and sell it to others here to make it a proper business."

"Tell us how..." one of the people said.

The man who happened to get that large sample was nodding his head violently, hoping that they'd come to business with him. Seeing as how it was as easy as that, Kakarot couldn't help but smile. He had them all where he wanted them.

The new inhabitants of what was known to be Planet Anded all spread the word out and were sure that they began to spread the word to everyone. They already had many things being built for their world, and so it turned out that Kakarot's business would be apart of that as well.

* * *

Kakarot made sure that a good number of individuals interested in his samples got some. He needed to make sure that everyone spoke about it, all speaking very good about his services. If nothing but good word was to get around, then it'd only be a matter of time before all of them would comply with Kakarot's idea. Things were going much more smoothly than the Saiyan had primarily thought.

"I'm happy to know that we could happily come to a conclusion." A few hours had passed since the trio first landed and Kakarot found himself flying with the man who entitled himself ruler over this world. The man was the one to watch his people and make sure everything was in order, seeing them progress this world step by step. He and Kakarot discussed everything over and he even got a sample himself. Kakarot gave him a handful of capsules so they could get the perfect jump start.

They were located inside a giant hut, where the man lived in of course. It was very dark inside. The only light each of them received inside was the light of inflammable rock of this world, which was lit like a candle.

"If we can make this type of business without having to kill people off, then so be it. We only bought this planet because it better fit our own needs. If there's going to be any kind of change in how the universe is being ruled, then I sincerely have no problems with yours."

"High five!" Dedana yelled, trying to get a hand from Duvin, who scoffed with a smirk and shook his head. She was rather excited that the deal had gone through and they were going to be in business soon.

Even though things seemed quite official at this point, Kakarot still had one concern in his head. "One question: do you know exactly how I can find the man that refers to himself as Freeza's father?"

The man paused for a moment. He knew very well whom this man was and he knew exactly what he was up to right now. For a second, he had forgotten that King Cold totally existed. He couldn't believe he had been so abstracted and slammed his face into his hand. "Shit...I completely forgot about him. If he's still taking over, then it's best we cancel our deal."

Kakarot, as well as everyone else, came to a halt with their smug expressions on their face. All the time he had invested just to make this happen wasn't simply going to fly out of the window. "If you are starting to fret over the existence of Cold, then fret no more. Just like I did his son, I'll take care of him as well."

"You have quite the tongue, young man. The way you advertise yourself as well as your products make me want to buy it, surely. Though with all the problems that have been going on, you just may have to cancel everything."

"Elucidate," Kakarot said, enjoining the man to specify. "I'm the person you come to when problems circulate in the first place."

"Hehehe. I can't say I've ever heard of you, Kakarot sir...but I've gotten some news that I have even been keeping under wraps from everyone. It's nothing frightening for them, it's just that I don't want my people's minds on other things right now. They need to stay on task with respect to our new world."

"We didn't come here to just be rejected," Dedana said.

"Hold it," Kakarot demanded the female. "What problems are we talking about here? Let me know and I'll be the one to sweep all of these problems from underneath your feet."

"Much like you, there was another man claiming to have taken down Freeza, saying he did it himself. In this business, word gets around really quickly. The man you refer to as the father of Freeza is titled King Cold...and for good reason."

Kakarot had a distinct feeling that this man claiming to have murdered Freeza was someone rather familiar. "Continue."

"King Cold heard about it from some men and decided to attend to Planet Freeza 70, where they will fight. Whoever comes out the victor is the true ruler of the world. Hehehe...and to think I almost bought into your nonsense. If Cold was to find out I was doing business with anyone for a second, he'd wish to know about it. Since we brought the planet from under his son, who is now dead, then we're under Cold's foot forever. Whatever is ours is his."

"Nonsense?" Vino asked, taking offense. "None of what we offer you is nonsense."

"Oh, but of course..." the man said. "You claim that you're going to take over Freeza's men and twist it into your own little business. Yeah, sure! Good luck with that. Listen...someone else may be willing to buy your little idea, but I'm going to tell my people that it's all off the table from now on."

The Saiyan didn't come this far just to fail, as Dedana had said just moments earlier. He was a patient man, yes, but now he wasn't going to accept no for an answer. The man was willing to get into this business before, so he was going to do it now for sure. If the man had to be put on edge just to comply, then it just meant that he would have to take action. "Listen here you little shit!" Kakarot grabbed the short yellow guy by his throat and picked him up, slamming him up against the rocky walls of his own hut. "I didn't spend sleepless days traveling here just so I could get rejected. I can see why you're being so cautious and you feel that you must back out of this fight, but rest assured I will be the one to solve all of these problems you've listed. By the time everything is said and done, I will be the single person running everything with my wine trade. Is that understood?"

Kakarot didn't realize that his grip was tight. It was getting to the point where the man being held by his throat couldn't find himself breathing very much anymore. "O-Okay...OKAY!" he signaled Kakarot to let go, sparing his life. Once he was let loose, he went gasping for oxygen, on his one knee. "L-look...I'll tell you the coordinates of where he's headed..."

Kakarot grinned. "Now that's more like it."

* * *

"We've got over two hundred of them!" Pilaf exclaimed. In the same room was he, Soba, Bulma, Ox, and Dr. Briefs with his friendly cat.

In this pure white, spacious room, there were countless counters, all of which had multiple bottles with little green looking beans inside and many other samples of various other experimental objects. "Turned out all you needed was tap water," Dr. Briefs commented. The man stroked his chin, shaking his head, smiling. Throughout his years, he had seen many surprises. Sometimes even the simplest things could pass over his head, and he was a genius. He was far used to it by this point, though.

"I already told him that," Bulma said.

Ox was in awe of how many of these things he was seeing. "There's basically no point in making any more for the time being...this is more than enough."

"Someone agrees!" Soba said, raising his hands to the air.

"Come see, Ox." Bulma headed out the door away from everyone else, who continued to work. "Something almost slipped my mind, but there's something else I wanted to let you know."

"What is it?"

"Just recently one of your father's employees who goes by the name of Duvin spoke to me recently. You know about your father's wine business, yea?"

Ox nodded, knowing just the gist of it. Unlike his father, wine wasn't really something that peaked his interest, though from his own father's knowledge, the boy knew of various kinds. "What about it?"

"He plans on taking his business out into space as well. That's all Duvin managed to tell me. But if my gut is right, then your dad is planning on going from planet to planet so he could get new customers."

"That'd be a lot, wouldn't it?" Ox asked.

"Yeah," Bulma answered. "But some people don't know when to stop. There's probably something out there he wants that's more interesting there." She then pulled out a phone of hers.

"But what could be more interesting than here?" Ox asked. "I think being here is good enough."

Bulma was on her phone for a while and didn't look at Ox. Once she did, she noticed the frown he had on his face. "Hey..." Bulma crouched down. "Just know, whatever it is, it's going to benefit all of you greatly. I can be honest and say I don't personally like your father...but I know he cares about you. If you think he's just going to leave you in the dust...he won't."

That being the main thing Ox worried about, he didn't seem that upset anymore. He wondered if there was a possibility that Kakarot could go out there and make another family-an even better one. He looked up to the man a lot, though he couldn't see why he had to just go at times. When he was gone...he felt some type of void, though he didn't want to acknowledge it.

"You want me to bring you to your mom or are you gonna fly over there yourself?"

"I'll go myself," Ox said. "Thank you, Bulma."

Bulma watched as Ox left the room. Just by looking at him walking away from behind, she felt a feeling of dejavu. Once his long wild hair was out of the room, she touched the scar that was induced by the same man with rather similar hair...

She recalled him walking out of the room the exact same way. "Odd..." the woman just shook her head and got back to work.

For Ox, he figured the rest of his day would consist of eating and studying. Flying through the sky, all he could think about was his dad and all the things he could do in outer space. Pondering on some hypothetical scenarios, he spoke them aloud.

"Studying about the physics of other worlds compared to earth's would be something...seeing other types of animals." Just knowing that life existed on other worlds had expanded Ox's little brain when it came to the imagination of such exotic things. He personally imagined lots and lots of different subjects when he had time to himself. Even when he wasn't working the brain while studying and fighting, he'd be working it with his own broad thoughts. But he wasn't all too sure if they'd ever come to life.

* * *

A few more days had passed as mentioned earlier and of course...it's the day that Vegeta's fight is meant to take place. It was early that morning and Vegeta didn't expect Cold to arrive very soon. He was in his own bed, just looking up at the ceiling with his arms supporting the back of his head. After his own session of intense training, the Saiyan knew he would need to be well rested just so he could survive his next fight.

"All I've managed to obtain thus far was the respect and fear of those who currently reside with me on this planet. All of the people know my power and they haven't dared to defy me...though, at the same token, I know their loyalties don't lie anywhere near as close as me as it did with their previous lord Freeza. In order to obtain the same amount of loyalty that Freeza once had across the universe...I need him and his father to rejoice in hell. And the only way I'm going to kill this man by myself is with the power...of a Super Saiyan."


	47. The Battle Between Two Royals

Today was the day...that the fight for control over the universe was to transpire. Vegeta himself knew that this event was inevitable, but he was mentally on edge. No amount of time training himself physically or mentally for that matter would bring down the high anxiety levels he had in preparation for this day. All he had to do was take out Cold and he'd finally be on top, as he was meant to be. He simply didn't expect it to be as easy as he thought though. Out in the deep far reaches of space, a circular ship had made its way into a completely different galaxy. It would be just a few hours before it managed to land on the planet that the coordinates happened to be set on, which was known as Freeza Planet 70.

King Cold didn't take his eyes away from the various planets he and the men accompanying him were passing by. The only thing on his mind was this 'Super Saiyan' that claimed to defeat his son and make an attempt to take his power. Cold knew that there were only two people of the entire universe who could give his son problems...and neither of them consisted of being a Super Saiyan, which was very well considered a mere legend-a lore. Through all of his existence, through all the years he knew of the Saiyans existence, he had yet to see a Super Saiyan with his very own eyes.

Why start believing now? There simply had to be a catch.

Cold raised a glass of purple liquid to his lips and took a sip from it. "We'll be there very soon...Super Saiyan." The Ginyus right by him all held in their anticipation, hoping to get a good bit of action out of the upcoming fight.

On the 70th planet that Freeza used to own, everyone locked themselves somewhere they knew that they would be safe. All heard of this fight that was meant to be happening and none wanted to be apart of it. Not even the so-called 'elite fighters' wanted to take hand. If anything...they would simply be involving themselves in a situation that would only end inevitably with their very own lives being taken from them somehow in one way or another.

In a medical room, Vegeta was getting himself prepared for perhaps the biggest fight of his life. If anything, his fight with Freeza was the biggest one. Though the fight with King Cold was to be something else entirely. This had a lot more on the line, holding a substantial amount of weight to it. With Freeza it was his life and his pride...though, with Cold, it was both...plus the opportunity to finally gain absolute power.

Behind Vegeta was a doctor of the planet, who watched the Saiyan get dressed for his upcoming battle. He, much like the others, figured it would be best to stay in for his own safety as well. "If I had to be honest, sir...if I had to choose between you or Cold as the new ruler...it would be you that I prefer."

Vegeta scoffed as soon as he slapped on a glove over his hand. "The ass kissing won't get you anywhere. Unlike Cold and that fool Freeza, once I become ruler of the universe, don't expect any type of special treatment from me. You get paid to do your job so that is what I expect of it."

"I won't complain...albeit a reward every now and then would do some good...sire."

"Heh!" Vegeta turned around, now facing the top doctor of the medical facility that resided on this one planet. "I'm nothing like those fools. Being able to live long enough and work under the power of a Super Saiyan should be reward enough for you. Witnessing such legendary prowess isn't something I would ever dare take for granted." With a cocky smirk, Vegeta walked out of the door and took his leave.

The doctor had a slight frown on his face. "...Then we can do better without Cold or Vegeta..." The doctor sometimes solely wished that he could be able to work with anybody and not worry about being killed on the spot for even just a simple mistake. A ruler so cruel was what invoked fear into everybody. He knew others had a mindset much like his own when it came to this topic. "I'll take anyone else any day over those two..." Unlike the average soldier or common worker in this organization, the doctor was getting rather tiresome of the same thing. He lived on an organization based off conquering worlds and healing those that would go back out to killing people. Sure, he didn't like it, but what other choice did he have? The pay was good as well as the living, albeit the conscience simply wasn't.

Vegeta walked through the corridors of the imperial building. As he was on his path to claim what he felt he so long deserved, the corridors seemed as if it was a ghost town. Usually, there were a few dozen men walking around, looking on to get to business. Vegeta observed this and could only sneer. "It seems that nobody has the desire to witness greatness..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kakarot was still getting Dedana and Vino battle ready. Said two had managed to get a hold of the use of ki and fighting. At 30 times gravity, it was tough for the both of them, albeit they were finally catching on.

Both Vino and Dedana were trying their best to land a single punch on Kakarot, who simply dodged left and right, barely putting any effort in them. "The way the both of you manage to progress so quickly is astonishing." Kakarot then zapped out of sight. Dedana and Vino both had a direct punch that they thought would genuinely land.

Kakarot was behind the two, with his arms folded. "Still, it has to be because the two of you are aliens...and Dedana's people have a history of fighting. That must be it."

Vino turned around immediately and fired a simple ki attack for Kakarot. Said Saiyan remained still and watched the attack come at him with a rapid velocity. Kakarot poked his index finger out and emitted a small bright yellow light of ki, which canceled Vino's attack the moment it made contact with his own energy. Little sparks of it could be seen falling to the ground by the Saiyan's feet.

"You learn very quickly."

"We can still train some more," Dedana spoke.

Kakarot shook his head. "Quite the contrary." He walked over to the panel that controlled the settings of the ship and put the gravity back at default. Dedana and Vino both felt as light as a feather the moment it was shut off, though they were confused. They knew they had time to train just a bit more, so why were they stopping now? "We arrive in a couple of hours. It's best that the two of you rest yourselves before we land. That way you'll be at one hundred percent when the fighting begins." He turned around and faced the two. "If Cold is anything like his son...then you'll need all the power you can possibly get."

Personally, Kakarot didn't want to have to face Cold up front. He knew that if anything, his power nor the power of the other two would be enough to take out someone like Cold. Now that he was alone, the Saiyan hoped to get some time to think on how he could approach things differently and come out with his life intact still.

* * *

A while passed and Cold was finally beginning to reach the planet. He as well as the members of the Ginyu Force could very well see the planet that they were inching closer and closer to by the very second.

"Why is it that I get the sudden urge to simply blow up the planet?" Cold asked in a humorous manner as he observed the world. A part of him truly wanted to get it done the most simple and effective way and kill everyone on that planet, regardless of the collateral damage. Though at the same time, the curiosity was sort of getting into him. He knew very few people capable of killing his son and out of nowhere a quote on quote "Super Saiyan" claimed to kill his son, one of the strongest people in the universe. This was also what made him want to blow up the planet, though he was sure that this 'Super Saiyan' thing had to be a simple farce. He just wanted confirmation.

"Because it's ugly," said Burter, who was responding to Cold's question.

All of the Ginyus got a good chuckle out of that one.

Cold sighed. "Ah, yes...that just must be it." Raising his glass of alcohol, a few chuckles exited his mouth. He, like the Ginyus, was getting somewhat excited as well.

Vegeta was standing up high at the very top of the main imperial building that stood about approximately 1,500 feet tall. While he was so high in the sky, he still looked up. Sooner or later he knew that the arrival of Cold was to take place so he was waiting for the moment that he was to reach the atmosphere of the planet. While he waited, the Saiyan had many thoughts flowing through his mind. Out of everything he went through, the pain, bullshit, suffering, anger, he was at the final steps of achieving his long-life goal. Ruling the universe would be a bonus yes, but for all his life, he wanted to do nothing but just fight. Having the power of a Super Saiyan would merely make things all the greater.

Keeping his eyes peeled, Vegeta knew it would be any moment now. He could feel the countless powers inching closer and closer. Once he saw a bright light of what appeared to be fire, seeming to engulf a circular ship, a smirk appeared on the Saiyan's face. He knew it was them. He watched for where the ship was to land and waited a bit more.

In the ship, Vegeta could feel there only being six people. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out whom he had carried with him. Five of those very six people had a considerable power compared to the average soldier under the Freeza Force, or as it was called. "Hmp. So he's found the Ginyu Force and brought them with him. Hehe...back then, the fools could have done a number on me, but I'm nowhere near that weak now." Watching where Cold's ship had landed, Vegeta knew it was time to make an appearance.

Burter, Ginyu, Guldo, Jeice, and Recoom all exited the ship. Once they stepped foot on the planet, Ginyu began to look around and scrutinize his surroundings. There was something familiar to him about this place.

"I think I've been here before," the leader of the group spoke. He rubbed his chin, trying to figure something out. "But I just can't remember what the hell we did over here."

Burter chuckled. "Oh, I know. This is where Guldo and Recoom thought it'd be fun to get some ice cream. They had the place run out of service and destroyed the bathrooms."

Ginyu, Burter, and Jeice all started laughing out loud in a hysterical manner. Recoom and Guldo had emotionless faces as that day as they remembered did not treat them very well.

"At least the ice cream was good!" Guldo objected.

"It must have been good coming in," Ginyu said, stifling his controlled laughter. He had a rather hard time trying to hold it together.

"But was it good coming out?" Jeice asked with a snicker.

That was it was Burter and he pulled his head back and started to laugh out loud, which had the others laugh out loud as well. Recoom had a few chuckles too, though he seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Guldo had a complete frown on his face.

"Now enough of the reminiscing," Cold said as he came from under the ship. "Do we have a reading on this Super Saiyan yet?"

Jeice clicked the button on the left side of his scouter and looked around, trying to obtain a signal as the device beeped incessantly. Everyone else did the same as well besides Guldo because he didn't have a scouter big enough to fit his fat, pudgy face that consisted of two eyes for where ears were normally placed for other humanoid aliens.

"I've got nothin," Ginyu said, turning his scouter off.

"Me neither!" Recoom spoke aloud.

"Nada," Burter answered, not getting a reading either.

Unlike the others, Jeice continued to look around. He was walking in a circle, making sure to look from all angles. From what he was getting, he'd end up with the same results that his members had gotten. "I've got not-"

PIPIPIPIPIPI

That was when the red-skinned alien's scouter began to go off, beeping much faster now. "OH!" He clicked his scouter, having it fixed on that one power-level. "One is coming here and it's coming fast!"

"What's the reading?" Guldo asked.

"Heh!" Cold placed his hand down. "And here I thought we would have to make ourselves known to this Super Saiyan..."

"The power I'm getting has a reading of 50,000!" Jeice exclaimed.

"50,000?" Recoom asked. "That's stronger than us!"

"Unbelievable..." Burter mouthed. It was truly rare that he or any of the members of the Ginyu Force encountered someone with a power-level as high as this. Usually, they'd get something over 10,000 every now and then, but this was a treat. Whomever this person was, had to be something special.

Cold, hearing the power being discussed could only find himself to laugh at it. "A power of 50,000 is rare phenomenon amongst people, yes. Though my son held a power much higher than that. It couldn't be that a Super Saiyan capable of killing my son happened to be so weak."

"I would agree with you sire," Ginyu said. "Though I personally take into account that there are a small set of warriors in this universe that have the helpful ability of being able to suppress their power. However, a fighter capable of doing that themselves would be a one in a million."

"A Super Saiyan itself should be one in a million," Jeice remarked.

"More like a fable," Burter said softly to himself.

Everyone continued to look in the sky, their eyes in the direction of which the power was coming from. It didn't take long before they each saw a figure getting closer and closer to them.

"There he is!" Guldo called out.

Everyone anticipated this moment and waited for their opponent to land. Vegeta didn't have any problems showing his cocky attitude and greeted them all with a grin. "Surprise..."

Each member of the Ginyu force gasped in amazement upon taking a look at this person. All were very familiar with whom just happened to make an appearance before their very eyes.

"Vegeta!?" Recoom yelled.

"How is that possible?" Burter asked. All of them were amazed. Not for one second did Vegeta ever come up as the person claiming himself to be a Super Saiyan. They knew him just as well as he knew the Ginyu Force. Vegeta wasn't known to be as strong as them, but he was just as ruthless, perhaps even worse than them.

Vegeta looked past the Ginyus and had his eyes mainly on Cold, the man who conceived the monster known as Freeza. 'So that's him...' Vegeta knew right off the bat that he was very well Freeza's father. He looked exactly identical to Freeza in virtually every way, albeit his height, which resembled one of Freeza's suppressed forms. "So you're the one to spawn the devil himself."

Cold chuckled. "Now I see who you are! Vegeta, yes? I knew the name sounded quite familiar. My son spoke fondly of you from time to time."

"Heh. It only made sense, of course. I was one of his strongest."

Cold chuckled. "Oh, he spoke fondly of you indeed...compared to how he spoke of the rest of you lot. He took pride in how he managed to lead you astray as you were lied to about how he destroyed Planet Vegeta."

Vegeta didn't have any words for that. None at all. All he did was held in a growl. He didn't want to reveal any type of emotion at the current moment and preferred to simply give a verbal retort.

"I always tried to convince him that it'd be simple to get rid of you. But he always told me that you were his favorite monkey. Hehehehehehe..."

As Cold chuckled, Vegeta's straight face turned into a seemingly kind one as he started to laugh as well. "You know they say that one shouldn't drop their guard when around a monkey. They may come back and tear your face off." Vegeta covered his face and tried to hold back his laughter. "His favorite monkey? HAH!" He looked back at Cold, calming down. "Now you see where that got him..."

"Out of all people, I never considered the notion that it would be you, Vegeta." Ginyu had a smile on his face. "You...a Super Saiyan?"

"And a power-level of 50,000?" Cold questioned. "I don't see how you could remotely touch my son with a power as weak as that."

"HMP! Then I may need to show you." Vegeta prepared himself to power up as he tensed his entire body. The dark colored trees on the dark planet began to shake, as well as everything in the vicinity. Once Vegeta's power started to truly, rise beeping from all over began to commence. Whether it came from Ginyu's scouter or any of the others, they were going off!

Jeice, Burter, Recoom and even Ginyu all genuinely began to fret over how Vegeta's battle power happened to be increasing.

Jeice was reading for Vegeta's. "55,000...65,000...76,000...89,000..." The red-skinned male's scouter was beeping extremely fast and showed no signs of slowing down. He could feel the heat overcoming his little device before it suddenly exploded into little pieces. He closed his left eye and pulled his head back, not wanting to get scratched by any sharp shards of glass.

Burter's scouter was much more endurable than Jeice's and continued to read on. Just by looking at what he was getting, he couldn't believe it. "106,000...110,000...125,000..." His scouter, much like Jeice's, blew up as well.

Recoom didn't have a chance at all as his blew up as soon as Vegeta's power exceeded 300,000.

"450,000...540,000...630,000...720,000...810,000...950,000..." The moment Vegeta's power exceeded one million, Ginyu's scouter overheated and blew up in pieces. He looked at Vegeta, eyes wide and shaky. Someonw with a power over one million? Someone besides Freeza and Cold? Not to mention, a simple Saiyan monkey! It just didn't make sense. A Saiyan with such power was unheard of. Could he truly be?

"I-It's over one million!" Ginyu exclaimed.

Cold watched Vegeta, who was still powering up. "And he continues to grow in strength...now I see how he was able to take on my son."

After a few more seconds of powering up, Vegeta came to an immediate stop. The strong winds that were being blown finally calmed down and some trees broken from their very roots simply toppled over. Many could be heard in the distance.

With his training, Vegeta felt his power greatly pass what he had compared to when he was on Namek, going head up to Freeza. "With my sheer power, I just might have busted over seventy-five hundred of those pointless devices! Now, do you see?"

Cold stepped forward, pushing the Ginyus out of the way. "None of you have any place in this battle that is about to commence. Just stand aside and watch

Vegeta chuckled. "Damn right." Looking over to the Ginyus, he spoke to them as well. "You better keep those fools away from this battle. Once I kill you, they'll be under my rule from now on!"

Cold wasn't in the very least amused. Seeing how Vegeta unleashed all of his power, he was anticipating to face off against this Saiyan. Part of him hoped he was what he claimed to be, just to see this unordinary power. "Enough babbling. FIGHT ME!"

Vegeta's entire body was enlightened by his purple aura prior to him taking off for Cold, who was well prepared.

Vegeta stood still for a moment, looking onto Cold. The Saiyan could feel his power and knew he had no chance in hell unless he truly held the power of the Legendary Super Saiyan. Vegeta had faith that it would come out during this battle, which was why he entered so confident in the first place.

In a burst of light, Vegeta took off head first for Cold. Said man cocked his hand to the side, getting ready to simply smack away Vegeta, who timed his movements perfectly. Vegeta was on his toes and slowed down just a bit. Cold had his hand come forth, which Vegeta used as leverage as he placed both of his hands on Cold's arms and used it to hop over the man's head.

As he was making way behind Cold, Vegeta turned around in mid-air and rendered him with a hard kick to the side of the neck. The man barely felt a sting from the impact of the Saiyan's boot. Vegeta came down on the ground behind Cold and quickly dashed to the side and hit him at point blank range with a ki attack to the back.

Cold felt the sting and turned around, facing Vegeta. Said Saiyan quickly dashed into the sky, missing a simple ki attack from Cold that traveled away, destroying hundreds of thousands of trees at once, placing multiple holes in the land within the premises of the current battle. As Vegeta was in the sky, he placed both of his arms out and didn't hold anything back, rendering Cold dozens of ki blasts by the second.

Cold looked up above, seeing hundreds of bright yellow blasts nearing him at once. Confident in his durability, he didn't even challenge Vegeta's efforts by countering it. He instead let all of the attacks strike him at once, gradually building a giant smokescreen high in the sky.

Vegeta remained in the air, looking down to see just what kind of damage he managed to inflict onto cold. He waited a bit for the smoke to die down. He secretly hoped he managed to inflict some bruises, though he intuitively knew that it was surely not likely. Once Cold was visible again, it was noted that the man didn't take any type of damage at all.

Vegeta shook his head and smacked his lips. 'All of that and I get jack shit!' Vegeta fired off another ki attack, which came rapidly at Cold.

The tyrant had his palm out and let the attack rub off against his hand. It was as if it was a rubber ball that continued to spin, though it wasn't going anywhere. Once Cold was done finding some amusement in that, he simply flicked his hand down, having Vegeta's ball of ki drill a hole through the ground. The ball of ki roamed around, forming all types of routes underneath, yet to detonate.

Vegeta came at Cold while he had the opportunity and punched him directly in the face. Vegeta had gave the man a clean, direct jab. He stood still and awaited the reaction on Cold's face, which formed into a smile. Cold chuckled and hopped back.

Vegeta was in the same spot, confused. 'Impossible...! None of that did anything to him at all...! How in the hell...?' He was very well aware of the power gap between him and his current opponent, though he didn't expect everything to be played out like it currently was. None of it just made any sense.

Cold's eyes were pointed down by Vegeta's feet. "Your attack..." Cold motioned the Ginyu's with his head to elevate themselves into the sky. Cold did so first, and the others followed.

"Huh?" Wondering what the man was referring to, Vegeta looked down. The same hole that Cold had flicked Vegeta's attack into was a very dark one. Though upon looking through it for a couple of seconds, a bright light started to rise. Vegeta's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. As fast as he could, he dashed up into the air.

A split second later, a giant explosion followed, covering the entire battlefield. The blast was so bright that Cold and the Ginyus had to cover their eyes. As Vegeta was making an attempt to get out of the way as fast as he could, the pressure of the explosion blew him up higher into the sky.

After a few seconds of uncontrollable flight, Vegeta flipped over and managed to stop himself. The Saiyan turned around and looked below, seeing what effect his blast happened to take on the battlefield. To his amaze...there was nothing left.

A giant hole that took the shape of a square could very well be visible. One could travel in there for hundreds of meters and be surrounded by nothing but darkness, which was the only perceptible thing of this gaping hole. Vegeta gawked in amazement at how one simple attack managed to do all of that.

Cold looked over to Vegeta, who had beads of sweat forming down his face. Without any warning, Cold punched Vegeta across the face, sending the Saiyan spinning in circles. Cold went after the Saiyan and got ahold of him by the ankle. As soon as he got the proper grip on Vegeta, he slung him down.

Vegeta was plummeting quickly and didn't know if he'd be able to gain control over himself. The strike was so unexpected and he felt like his jaw was going to break with the slightest movement. At the last moment, he executed a back-flip and planted his feet into the ground. The impact of his hard land formed cracks within a 10-yard radius of him.

Cold looked down at Vegeta, with an extremely cocky grin on his face. "I believe I have finally figured out just how you managed to beat my son. Judging by your current power, you never gave Freeza the chance to transform, which means he never got to demonstrate his full power. Taking the opportunity, you killed him on the spot."

Cold was wrong, though Vegeta didn't speak on it at all. He himself knew that the entire story of HIM beating Freeza was a lie. The Saiyan used that in an attempt to convince the underlings that he was now the strongest. And that with his extreme Super Saiyan powers, he deserved to be able to have the respect of all those in the universe.

"As for me...I need not transform as this is my final form. Though I've yet to demonstrate my full power."

"So Vegeta's really not a Super Saiyan after all," Burter said.

"I knew he was lying!" Guldo exclaimed. "There isn't even such a thing."

Recoom, Jeice, and Ginyu all laughed. It was this very moment they realized that they had wasted their time in coming to see if the Super Saiyan was truly official or not. They weren't even mad at their wasted time, but more amused. They were just about to witness the worse beating in the world.

"We knew there was no such thing from the very beginning!" Ginyu said aloud through fits of laughter. "You'd have to be crazy to believe in such folklore."

"Especially coming from Vegeta." Jeice added.

"Yeah!" Recoom said. "You know how Vegeta is! He likes to exaggerate a lot."

"Now, ain't that the truth," Burter said.

Cold now saw through Vegeta's lie. "If I had known that you had been one to let your mouth run too much, I wouldn't have wasted my time and blown up this world without a second thought. But now that we've started our battle, I figure why not divert myself for a little bit."

Vegeta growled. The Ginyus and Cold himself all happened to be mocking Vegeta, who obviously wasn't taking kindly to it. The Saiyan had a pure mix of frustration and nervousness put all into one. Facing Cold on his lonesome meant that he was in a worse situation than he was in against Freeza.

Cold stretched his arms out and placed one foot just ahead of the other. He had a smile of extreme delight, excited to finally get on the offensive side of battle.

"Now...let's see how long you can last, Super Saiyan..."


	48. The Rise and Fall of the Prince

Vegeta stood there, his nerves getting more and more anxious by the moment. So far everything he had tried with Cold was a failure and he made sure to not pull back any punches either. He knew he had the power within him, but he needed to bring it out NOW. Without it, he didn't know if he'd be able to come out alive. Seeing no other way to go about the battle, Vegeta's arms shot forth at blinding speeds, a sense of desperation being felt by Cold as well as the Ginyu members watching below. Each time his hands came forward, he would fire off a new energy attack.

The father of the tyrant Freeza came down head first at his opponent, not holding anything back. Upon realizing he was coming at him head-on, Vegeta immediately stopped. Taking a look at Cold, who wasn't being slowed down by the ki attacks that were simply bouncing off him, Vegeta could see he had absolutely nothing on this man. Now it was beginning to come clear-everything he had been doing so far was for a naught.

Cold seized himself just yards before Vegeta and swung his hands to the side, the cape that was affixed to his shoulder pads being detached and sent flying into the wind. The strong wave due to Cold's swing had Vegeta barely able to stand on his feet. The Saiyan was beginning to fall over on his back, though he used the force of his feet to regain simple balance.

Vegeta hadn't seen it coming and was struck hard in the stomach. The reaction of such a hard blow delayed, Vegeta remained still, eyes wide for a few seconds. Cold looked at Vegeta, awaiting some physical response-any response. It was when Vegeta cocked his head back and came up coughing blood that Cold finally got some sadistic gratification. Not stopping there, he grabbed Vegeta by his face and lifted the Saiyan off the ground. His giant-sized hands covered Vegeta's entire face, the extreme amount of grip barely giving the Saiyan any room to breathe properly.

Cold slammed Vegeta back-first into the ground and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying. Long and short pieces of armor that belonged to the Saiyan could be seen dropping to the cracked ground as Vegeta was soaring into the skies. Eventually, he began to decrease in altitude prior to landing hard on his side in the middle of a field of trees. He clutched his entire mid-section, groaning silently in agony. Inside he felt as if his organs were twisting and turning. The addition of a burning sensation from each of his striken areas didn't help the Saiyan much either.

Vegeta struggled to breathe just as much as he did being able to stand up erect on his two feet. While he was making an attempt to stop his constant wobbling, he could sense Cold's energy headed towards him. Cold's giant figure came crashing into the trees, knocking them all down.

Vegeta could hear them falling one by one, second by second. It wasn't long until he got to see some in his proximity toppling over as well. If he wasted any more time trying to gain his footing, then he'd be rammed into like the countless trees as well. Trying to be as quick as possible, Vegeta rocketed into the sky. He knew Cold would try and attempt to hit him close up yet again, so he tried his best to take advantage. Vegeta sensed out for Cold's energy as he produced one of his signature attacks. Once he pinpointed the man's ki, he didn't hold anything back and fired away.

"Garlic Ho!"

Vegeta's single line of attack hit one little spot and blew away the entire area, everything within a 200 yard radius was destroyed, trees and other animals included. There was a gaping hole left in the middle of the field, all of which had the planet shaking. Vegeta wiped a bit of blood on his lip and smirked, his eyes looking at the giant dust ball of smoke. "How do you like that..?" he huffed and puffed heavily. All of the fast-paced action in battle just subsequent to being beaten by a foe more than ten times his own power took a lot out of him much sooner than he could have ever expected. He knew Cold wasn't done at the very least, though he merely anticipated that his simple attack could have done a hint of damage.

"Not very much..." Cold lowly responded as he arose behind Vegeta from below. The Saiyan's hair all over his body struck up in every direction the moment he heard Cold's calm, yet chilling voice.

Cold rammed the tip of his elbow into Vegeta's back, placing cracks into his chest plate. Vegeta was pushed forward, though he shifted around as quickly as he could, swinging his left arm in the process in an attempt to strike Cold. Vegeta's arm was caught and he paid for it dearly. A gush of blood came oozing from Vegeta's nose as soon as Cold rendered him a simple jab to the face. He didn't stop there and gave him another jab...then another. This continued and Vegeta wasn't capable of defending himself at all. Each hit he got would either break his nose or put it back into place again. The pain was nearly intolerable, but there was nothing he could possibly do-Cold was far too fast for him to react in any way at all.

The Ginyus were all watching from afar, seeing everything going on. None were surprised at how bad Vegeta was being beaten, but rather more entertained. Each of the members got a kick out of this bloody sport of life and death.

"Man, King Cold is really giving Vegeta an ass-whippin'!" Jeice exclaimed.

Ginyu had his arms crossed, grinning the entire time. "Vegeta is a smart guy, we can all agree on that...BUT this is the dumbest thing he could have possibly done!" For the life of Ginyu he tried to figure out just why would Vegeta try and oppose someone like Cold, the most dangerous man in the universe alongside his late son. Sure, Vegeta may have been in the dark about Cold-as were many common soldiers-but just knowing that he is Freeza's father should be incentive enough for him to simply stand down. "Heh! That's a Saiyan for ya..."

"And here I was thinking about helping Lord Cold," Guldo said.

"There was no need in the first place!" Recoom patted Guldo on the back, which had the green guy nearly fall over. "Don't you see how Vegeta's getting pummeled right now? There was no need."

"Besides," Burter added. "If we tried to help Lord Cold, he'd probably kill us on the spot."

"Shouldn't be thinking about any of that anyway," Ginyu said. He reached into his armor and pulled out a bottle of green juice and popped the cap open. He could feel all the stares coming onto him from his crew members, wondering how he got the juice, but all he could do was look at the battle, drink, and smile. "Just watch and enjoy the show, boys."

Cold rendered Vegeta his last punch to the face, while holding him by his chest plate. The impact of the punch sent Vegeta flying back, though his armor plate remained in the hands of his enemy. The Saiyan now no longer had no protection when it came to his entire upper body, as well as his midsection. Cold slung the armor at Vegeta and fired off a non-generated ki attack, which blew Vegeta away even further. Vegeta's pained yell was muffled out by the sudden explosion of Cold's attack, but he very well heard the faint voice. He was simply having too much fun playing around with the Saiyan.

Vegeta's left eye was shut and totally bruised and the other half open with blood falling down his cheeks. Nothing but blood, scratches, and bruises covered his face. As he was soaring through the sky, he looked up at the stars above. Despite the pain and hurt, he was feeling at the current moment, he still found time to think in situations like these. On the outside looking in, Vegeta could be seen traveling through the air at thousands of miles per hour, but he himself felt as if he was in slow motion. He could have pointed out each star and counted him on his hand if he so desired. The cool wind he felt consumed his entire body and it made him feel one with the entire atmosphere. 'I-Is this really it? Is this how far I can truly go?' No matter Vegeta's efforts, all of what he attempted thus far seem to be fruitless. From the very start of the battle, Vegeta knew it would be foolish to hold anything back. The entire fight, he had been giving it all and for what? His efforts to simply be brushed aside like child's play and for him to be thrown around? Unfortunately, Vegeta was beginning to question his own power-his own place in the universe.

Cold came above Vegeta and struck him once more, having the Saiyan crashing into the giant dark hole he created moments earlier. Vegeta travelled underground, falling into a hole which seemed endless. The further he flew in, the darker and hotter it got. Vegeta had his eyes closed and it seemed like he'd be falling for an eternity, like an angel falling from far above to the stars into the pure depths of the underground of the lowest planet in the universe. It was just moments later that Vegeta's back landed hard on a solid, sturdy surface. He had finally reached the bottom.

Even with his left eye half-way open, it was dark. He could have both open and it'd feel like he had both of his eyes sealed tight. He knew he was at the very bottom, but the undercurrent had the sense of an empty space-a very hot one.

Not even a third of a minute down there and Vegeta began to sweat furiously. "There is no way...no way that it should end like this." Vegeta got on his shaky knees and clenched his bloody fists. The heat of this place started to take his toll on him, but his rising anger had him disregard all of it. He was finally at his breaking point. "I am one of the last Saiyans in this universe. All of their legacy rides on my shoulders. If I fail here...then what the hell am I?!" Vegeta looked up, his teeth shaking. From hundreds of meters below the simple ground, he could see one little hole, as well as one little bright star. For some reason, he felt that there was still a beacon of hope. It was at this point where he finally had enough. "The humiliation stops here!" In a burst of speed, Vegeta shot up through the hole he was sent crashing into.

Cold knew Vegeta was to come back out of the hole sooner or later, so he waited patiently. Vegeta came out from below like a madman. As soon as he reached the same altitude that Cold was in, he came to an immediate stop. Sweat fell down his cheeks and dripped down from his chin. He was huffing and puffing, his entire body tensed up like never before. Simple muscles would in his body would twitch involuntarily, revealing the extreme stress being put forth onto his body.

"You're going to see just exactly how I killed your pathetic excuse of a son!" Vegeta gave out a loud shout, engulfing himself in purple energy. He placed his arms out before his chest, hands out straight. A mix of purple and white crackling aura surrounded his entire being, similar to that of a shadow. It was all or nothing. Every single bit of energy he felt he could put out left was into this one single point of attack. It was all or nothing.

"Now go straight to hell!"

Cold remained still, waiting for Vegeta's attack to near him. Those words Vegeta spoke strung something within the cold-blooded tyrant. He stared hard into Vegeta's eyes as the attack neared him. Yet again, he knew there wasn't a challenge worth countering from Vegeta, so he let the Saiyan's last stand hit him dead on, showing no signs of self-defense.

Even though the blasts struck, having the entire planet roar from the ground up, Vegeta didn't stop there and rendered Cold a barrage of ki attacks, pushing himself beyond his own limits. Some of the energy attacks he shot forth canceled out before it could even touch Cold. Ginyu and the others had a hard time standing their ground with the amount of pressure being sent from the Saiyan above.

Cold still stood there, taking on every hit given to him. While Vegeta was far too angry to notice, none of the attacks were having any effect on him. Cold grew tiresome of waiting and shot for Vegeta once more. He now saw that there was nothing more Vegeta could provide as far as diversion went, so he decided to nip this in the bud now. "You speak badly about my son...your superior!"

Vegeta stopped attacking as soon as Cold broke through. As soon as he saw the man coming right for him, he just froze. Cold punched Vegeta hard in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Following with a knee to the stomach, Vegeta bent over. Cold proceeded to smash his elbow onto the Saiyan's back, re-directing Vegeta back near the hole he came right of just seconds ago.

Cold came down hard, crushing his feet into the Saiyan's back. "GRAGHHHH!" Vegeta began to wheeze for air. His stomach came up and down quickly, taking in as much oxygen as possible, even with the pressure of Cold's hard foot on his back.

"Hehehehe..." Cold rubbed his hard foot against Vegeta's back before hopping off. Vegeta's face fell back into the ground, simply breathing up rocks now.

Cracks were formed on the ground under Vegeta's stomach, where the edge of the hole was. His stomach was on the edge, with his hands on the ground while his feet were dangling below. The cracks spread until they eventually broke off, no longer leaving the Saiyan any room to catch a breather. Vegeta looked as if he was about to fall down into the deep hole yet again. In a quick sense of panic, he began to swing his hands, hoping to grab onto something. Luckily for him, his hands got ahold of the ground. Not wanting to fall, Vegeta dug his fingers into the ground, making sure he stuck there. He quickly looked down and realized he'd end up back down in that same, dark burning area yet again. He looked up to Cold, who simply smiled in his face.

Cold towered over Vegeta, looking down on the Saiyan with his arms folded. He had just about all the fun he could have with someone of Vegeta's power and now knew there was no need to prolong such a pointless fight. "If that's the power you claim to have defeated my son with, then it turns out Freeza could never have been as worthy as I always thought of him to be." He paused for a bit before a few chuckles exited his mouth prior to speaking once more. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not some gullible fool and have actually experienced the strength of my son's true power. He would never let some monkey outdo him in battle, so I don't get why you would genuinely attempt to convince me that you happened to take him out. I hear you partook in the battle in which Freeza died, on Planet Namek. After I kill you, I will be heading there in attempts to find my son." Cold then pressed his giant foot against Vegeta's hand, which was starting to get crushed by sheer pressure Cold was inflicting on him. "I should have wiped this entire planet out. I wouldn't have to waste my time on phony trash like yourself." Cold removed his foot and slammed Vegeta's hand with his tail, forcing the Saiyan to let his grip loose. Vegeta couldn't fly at the current moment and simply had no choice but to fall now, being left with nothing to hang on to.

Cold stuck his finger out, charging a beam, ready to end it all. "This shall be your grave." Not holding anything back, Cold fired a pure death beam, aimed at Vegeta's cranium. The death beam wasn't like many Vegeta had witnessed before. Unlike its usual thin and piercing form, the attack was much bigger in terms of girth. If it was to go through Vegeta's head, it'd leave a rather sizable hole.

If the attack was to strike the primary target, then Vegeta would be done for. He knew he had to do something and fast. The Saiyan placed his feet into the rocky walls of the hole he was plummeting into. He began to slide with his feet planted inside and it did slow down his fall, though his ankle smashed into a rock attached to the wall and his entire body shifted in the process. The beam initially aimed for the Saiyan's cranium penetrated his right shoulder from behind prior to Vegeta landing hard flat on his chest, having to embrace the searing surface of this dark terrain yet again.

Vegeta coughed up a bit of dust, as well as blood. On his stomach, he could feel pieces of rocks piling up on him. The Saiyan felt the extreme heat inside and wanted out. If he was there a minute longer, he'd be toast by now. "Tch...!" He looked over to his right shoulder and noticed the gaping hole. Since the wound was unattended to, blood leaked out and trailed down his aching arms to the center of his hands. A lot was coming out and fast. "Either I stay here and die or go out there and fight for my life..." Vegeta closed his eyes as tightly as possible, trying his best to disregard the embarrassment being placed upon him. This man had got so far and now it all seemed hopeless. He was being treated like a stupid child on the battlefield, for the fight of his own life. "Fuck!" he punched the hot ground below, forming cracks, the surface now beginning to bubble. With each word he spoke, he could see his hot breath come from his mouth. "How can I expect to be the Legendary Super Saiyan fighting like this!" Nothing but pure frustration and anger began to overcome him. Out of instinct, he slammed his head into the ground. "I was meant for greatness...every action of my life has lead me to becoming a Super Saiyan!" In the back of his head, he looked through the eyes of others-others that were long gone. He tried to look through the eyes of a common Saiyan, seeing himself in this current predicament. What would they think of him? _How would his father-the great king-think of him?_ Vegeta got up on his two feet. From his face fell tears, which melted the moment they touched the hot surface. "I won't fail here..."

The Saiyan's mind began to empty, though the anger was still very well there. His mind went blank for a moment prior to it being filled with nothing but animosity-pure choler. "I WON'T LOSE LIKE THIS!" Vegeta jerked his head up, yelling at the top of his lungs. "DO YOU HEAR MEEE!" Vegeta's body was completely tensed up. The heat he was feeling in the hole was nothing to him now. The only thing that made his blood boil more than that was the power he felt coming over him.

He formed cracks in the solid, hot surface below. His eyes went pure white. Just moments ago, he felt completely depleted of energy. Now, he felt a new sense of life coming to him, something that had to be awakened. The Saiyan's flamy hair began to flow from side to side, slowly getting more and more jagged by the second. Its usual jet black color flickered to gold and black like a light switch constantly being turned off and on. He was at the very edge, and all he truly needed was that final push. He was finally done.

 **"TAHHHHHHH!"**

Cold was faced with the Ginyus, preparing to leave. None heard the forceful war cry coming from Vegeta below. Cold figured he had finally managed to kill off his opponent and decided it was about time to leave. He had just got done telling his men that they were going to destroy the planet before they flew off elsewhere.

"But that's destroying a lot of resources," Ginyu spoke, a bit against the idea.

"Not as if it truly matters," Cold replied. "Everything we have on this world resides on many other owned planets. That weakling Saiyan and the others can all die here for all I care." Cold started to rise in the air. "Now let's get a move on. I wish to not waste any more of my valuable time."

The other Ginyus one by one all got ready to take their leave as well. The only one being left behind was Guldo, who happened to catch something. From the hole, Vegeta was supposed to be in, a high streak of lava shot into the skies. "What the heck is that?"

The loud noise catching everyone's attention, Cold and the others all turned around. They got to see what Guldo saw as well, albeit many more bursts of lava shooting into the sky. The trees in the surrounding area all started to fall over due to the extreme heat burning it by the very roots.

Vegeta slowly ascended from the hole he was in, a new energy within him. Regardless of the lava that could kill a mortal with a touch, Vegeta embraced being surrounded by them all as he had a giant circular golden barrier protecting him from making contact with the torrid lava.

"W-What is that?" Burter asked.

He and the others could only see the golden barrier surrounding Vegeta, but not the person inside of it. None of them had ever seen such a bright glow in a fashion as this. In the back of their heads, each of them wondered if this had to be Vegeta's doing.

"Good question..." Jeice mumbled.

Vegeta looked totally different, in physical tendencies. The Saiyan's hair was a shiny gold and his aura was just out of this world, something never seen before in the modern millennia. Opening his eyes, he revealed his bright green.

The Saiyan stared over the five Ginyus, and looked over at Cold, who was at a loss for words. Vegeta opened his mouth wide. The very thing that came next was an extremely loud yell. The golden barrier he had protecting his body shattered into absolute pieces with his ear-piercing battle cry.

The sheer energy Vegeta felt building up inside him simply could not be contained any longer. If he held it in for a longer period of time, he would feel as if he was about to burst. Never before had he felt such power in his body, though at the same time...never had he felt such anger before. The Saiyan let himself feel the frustration and let it consume him. For the first time in his life, such tribal emotion was to save him from sudden death.

Vegeta eyed Cold and the others. He appeared as if he was having a hard time speaking once he opened his mouth, where no words came out of for a brief moment. "I can only control myself for so much longer...!"

"You're back for more?" Cold asked, chuckling. He was taken aback by the sudden change of the Saiyan, but he truly expected nothing out of it. Regardless of Vegeta's newfound energy, he still looked as beaten as he was moments before falling into that endless hell hole. "Heh! A color change won't do much for you, Saiyan!" The tyrant, still confident in his ability to kill the Saiyan, raised his hands to the sky and charged a mini nova in the palm of his hands.

Vegeta reacted quickly and fired a simple beam at Cold's attack, which detonated by contact. The impact of the explosion had harmed the Ginyu members to the point of no absolute return. All of them were equally burned to death and lied on their faces burned to a crisp, with steam emitting from their motionless bodies. The lava behind the Saiyan slowly started to cool down a bit, not spreading anywhere else on the planet.

Cold himself was somewhat damaged by the sudden speed of the Saiyan. He, like the Ginyus, had not seen that coming. The only difference was that he still remained alive. His face had burns and scratches over it, but the thing that stood out the most was his shocking expression "W-What?" He looked around him, seeing all the Ginyus out of commission. "H-He killed them...indirectly..."

Vegeta shot over to Cold and punched the tyrant dead center in the stomach. Cold doubled over and spat up saliva above Vegeta's wounded shoulder, which continued to lose blood, though Vegeta didn't mind at all. The Saiyan used his other hand to uppercut Cold into the air. As soon as Cold was sent off his feet, going passed Vegeta's face, Vegeta grabbed him by the ankle and began to spin him around hundreds of times. He slowly went from a couple hundred miles per hour spinning to a couple ten thousand.

Eventually, Vegeta let Cold go, slinging him even further up, much higher than a simple uppercut would have done. Vegeta used the momentum to his advantage dashed for Cold and smashed the tip of his head against the taller fighter's stomach, rendering him further into the sky, soaring past the clouds. Vegeta stopped momentarily and kept his eyes peeled for Cold before his body zapped out of sight.

Cold's eyes were all over the place, but he was yet to even spot Vegeta, who was now behind him. He had no idea that he was hit again until Cold was face down in the ground. He got back up on his feet and looked up where he was sure Vegeta happened to be.

The Saiyan prince leg swept Cold by surprise and quickly followed by shifting his body around, placing his hands on the ground and kicking Cold in the chest with both of his feet. He quickly flipped back over to regain his footing and blasted Cold dead on. Controlling the direction of his attack, Cold was sent crashing into the ground from miles away, the line of ki Vegeta produced having made a curve below.

The man was at a loss for words, not just at the pain he was feeling for the first time in a long time, but at the sheer power coming from Vegeta himself. It was less than a minute ago that Vegeta was on the ropes, surely at the brink of dying. None of what was going on now simply made no sense to Cold-nothing was adding up. "What the hell are you?!" He had a feeling deep down in his stomach, but he just didn't want to believe it. Not after everything that has happened, he couldn't come to fathom that such a legend was true after all.

Vegeta swiftly came at Cold and pushed his hands against his face, having Cold spin multiple times a couple yards just above ground. Vegeta rendered Cold a spinning kick, the tip of his boot connecting with his opponent's spine. Cold was sent sliding through the ground. The more and more Vegeta was repaying Cold with a beating of his own, he found himself not as angry as before. During his streak of combos, Vegeta finally came to realize what he had become and found somewhat of a more humble attitude, despite his ire.

"Now do you see the power I possess? The same power I used to defeat your son? This...the same power I'll use to kill you? THE POWER..." Vegeta ignited his aura. "OF A SUPER SAIYAN!"

The Saiyan showing off his newly displayed powers didn't happen to hold anything back. From those first few punches, Cold already knew that he was outmatched. 'T-This is the power of the Super Saiyan...' Cold slowly got to his knees, keeping a close eye on Vegeta. Cold had the urge to fall back down due to the extreme pressure of Vegeta's power, making him want to buckle at his very knees due to being so close to such prowess.

"You stand the hell down!" Vegeta bum rushed Cold, who slid on his back. The Saiyan then stood tall, head held up high, with a little grin on his face. Vegeta's wild, golden hair danced with pure gracefulness. He looked at Cold, whose eyes were beginning to get shaky.

Cold didn't see how he'd get the hell out of certain death. Fighting Vegeta would be pointless. So far he wasn't able to point out the Saiyan's movements, nor was he able to make any of his own before being suddenly struck. He wasn't going to get out alive by fighting back-that'd be a certified deathwish granted. The only way Cold figured he'd be able to get away with his life was if he simply convinced the Saiyan...with his words. Seeing no other way, he quickly got to his knees and clapped his hands together, looking up at the Saiyan.

"W-Wait...spare me! Please...all of this was just a simple misunderstanding." Through his sentence, Cold's nerves had him stuttering like a man with a speech impediment. His mind was blank and he was simply grabbing at words to say-anything to spare himself of his own life.

Vegeta's cold glare didn't change in the slightest-they, in fact, grew colder. "Through all my years of battle, I have come across many whom in the middle of battle, acted brave and confident. Much like me in a sense. But the moment they all come to realize their defeat...they begin to beg for their lives. Desperate to keep living, they'll offer anything."

Getting an idea just from Vegeta's words, Cold's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes! I'll even offer you the position that my son Freeza held! Everything that he's owned will be yours for the taking! We can work together as emperors of the Universe. Surely, you get it, yes? Anything you desire! Food, drinks, women. At your beck and call!" Any man would be foolish to back down on such an offer-at least in Cold's eyes, they would be.

"Heh!" Vegeta smirked. Even while pissed off, seeing the fear in his enemy's eyes brought a sense of satisfaction to him. Vegeta tensed his entire body for a brief second, his golden bright aura flaring for a moment prior to him slowly ascending to the sky. "And that is exactly what I'm talking about. You can't even face death with pride!"

Vegeta placed the palm of his hand out, aiming it directly at Cold. "It took a Super Saiyan to beat you and you're pouting like a pansy! Pathetic. Whatever treatment your son gets in hell...you deserve far worse!" A bright, blue energy began to formulate in the Saiyan's hands. Cold's nerves grew worse as Vegeta's attack grew. The Saiyan had made up his choice and wasn't going to let him live. "Besides...why say yes to your offer when I can just kill you and take it?"

Cold quickly got onto his two feet. In a rush, he tried his best to start scampering away for his life. "BIG BANG ATTACK!"

Unfortunately for the tyrant, the blast Vegeta formed was too large. As soon as it made contact with his cape, he could feel the heat slowly pealing at his skin...piece by piece. "N-No..." The man's pupils dilated, all out of fear. He knew what was to come next, and there was no way out of it. "NOOOOO!"

The life ending screams Vegeta has been used to hearing all his life had never been so good before. The beautiful fireworks that took place immediately after made it that much better. Not mere moments ago, everything was loud and shaky, though now everything was peaceful and fine.

All of Vegeta's challenges to get to the top had come to an end. "I should have kept his head as a trophy..." he closed his eyes and reminisced on all his past feats. From the moment he began to walk, Vegeta was already fighting, stronger than the most of them. All of his people expected him to be the greatest as he was a certified prodigy, not only titled by his father but the Saiyan race as a whole. Some didn't like him, sure, but he was respected. Everyone, regardless of their liking of him, expected very big things out of him. The Saiyan opened his eyes.

"This was what was meant for me. I've managed to overcome what many Saiyans themselves considered simple folklore. I've proven the non-believers wrong and killed all the weak standing in my way just to make a point. The Great Prince will go down as legend."

For the first time ever in his life, Vegeta found himself at a point of simple clarity. He was now much more calm, the anger slowly leaving his beaten and battered body. The moment Vegeta's adrenaline began to fade away, so did his transformation as a result. The sudden golden glow surrounding his body disappeared immediately, having him revert back to his normal look: the simple jet black hair and black irises. The warm heat he could feel surrounding his body was gone and sure as hell didn't go unnoticed.

The Saiyan was quite confused for a moment. He lifted his left arm and looked around, no longer seeing that golden glow he possessed just moments ago. He tried to move his right arm, though it felt totally numb. Looking over to his shoulder, he could see it still leaking a lot of blood, not to mention, his hands and arm looking pale in itself. "W-What..." he had totally forgotten. His right shoulder had been losing blood from the very moment it was punctured. The intense fighting as well as his sudden transformation had worsened the condition and coerced him into losing even more blood.

Every time Vegeta managed to dispose of an obstacle, another would appear instantly. It would so happen that drowsiness due to a loss of blood would have to be the very next thing for him to overcome. Bad enough, it wouldn't be too easy. The Saiyan slowly began to descend to the ground, though against his own will. He controlled the pace of his fall, but landing hard on his knees wasn't pleasing at all.

He remained there for a bit, somewhat shocked. He took in heavy breaths and felt it was hard to even try to get back on his own feet.

"Dammit..." The heaviness of his eyes began to increase by the second. "I can't go...not after all this." Vegeta hissed at himself for being so careless-so stupid. "I was so caught up in the heat of the moment that I'd forgotten about this stupid fucking wound...!" he wanted to punch the ground out of anger and frustration, but he used his left hand to keep him up and his right arm felt as heavy as metal-he couldn't move it. The Saiyan growled and let out a yell, as loud as he possibly could. It was the only way to regain that energy he once had. His hair and eyes flickered briefly for a couple of seconds, but to no avail. He was left gasping for air, eyes burning full of rage, a rage he wouldn't be able to convert into the power of the legend. This angered him beyond belief.

"Had you tended to that wound the first chance you got, you wouldn't be in that position."

Vegeta was dragged out of his own little world as soon as he heard a voice speak from afar. He kept his eyes stuck to the ground for a moment. Out of the three energies he felt, he only felt one familiar power. He knew who it was, but he had to see for his very own eyes. He didn't want to look, but he shifted his head over to the left of him, seeing two people...alongside Kakarot. His stomach felt empty. "Y-You..."

Kakarot had the same smug grin on his face, the one that pissed Vegeta off every time he saw it. "Hello."

No longer did he care that Kakarot was even in his presence. He was more concerned with how the hell he managed to get there. "H-How did you get here?"

"Let's just say I know some people. You put up quite the fight, I must admit. You did better than I had expected."

Vegeta, feeling extremely antagonized, rose up to his feet, though he could never have been so slow doing so. "W-What the hell do you want?" While on his feet, he was hunched over, his lead low, breathing heavily.

"I've been thinking for a while now of expanding my very own business. Going intergalactic was the only option for me to have the most successful trade. The only people that genuinely stood in my way were you and Cold, whom you just killed. I'd say this was meant to be."

Vegeta looked at Kakarot's left hand, which slowly began to rise. Vegeta kept his eyes on it until Kakarot had it aimed at him. "Y-You wouldn't!?"

Vino and Dedana both didn't say anything in respect to what was about to happen. Kakarot had already told them of the plan when they got here, so he was to here of no words from them until it was all said and done. The only thing they were meant to do at the current moment was watch.

Vegeta stared hard at Kakarot, who just stared back. "Tch! If you're going to go through with this, make it quick!"

Kakarot nodded. "That I intend to do." He poured energy from the center of his body through his arms, until it reached his hands, which began to glow. "Thanks for setting this all for me. I'll be sure to give you the proper burial that a Saiyan deserves."

"Had this been a one on one fight...I'd kill you."

"I've already proven to myself that I can beat you, Vegeta. There's no point in trying anymore."

Vegeta spat at the ground. "If you've managed to see everything, then you know damn well you wouldn't last a second with me! Not with my newfound power!" Kakarot remained silent for a moment. He indeed did see everything, not from the beginning of battle, but he saw enough. He felt the extraordinary power Vegeta used to be able to defeat Cold. Vegeta noticed Kakarot's silence and chuckled. "You get my point, Kakarot? Hehe. I can tell in the look in your eye that you're dying to fight me again. You want a taste of the Super Saiyan power, don't you? You've witnessed what it does and you want to have it! Too bad you can only obtain it by facing someone with the power equal to that of a Super Saiyan."

"I can obtain it on my own," Kakarot said. "With time, it will happen soon enough. If you can do it, I can."

"Hmp! Then let me heal. What do you say, Kakarot? Let me come back so we can fight! Let us settle it once and for all!" Kakarot kept his energy of attack in the palm of his hand. "Either you're going to choose the way of the coward and kill me or you will choose the path of a Saiyan warrior and let me live to fight another day and truly settle the score! What the hell are you waiting for!?"

Everything Vegeta spoke of was true and Kakarot knew it-at least to some extent. Both were Saiyans but had their own ways of thinking. It was a moment of silence before Kakarot finally spoke up, having made his decision. "I don't choose either the coward's way or the Saiyan's way, Vegeta. I choose the smart way."

Vegeta cocked his head, wondering what exactly Kakarot was referring to. If anything, the smart way would have to do with killing him off and not having to deal with him.

"And the smart way would be ridding of my biggest threat forever. As much as it'd be nice to have such power, I don't need a form to bring me to the higher ranks. A Saiyan simply must have finesse and nothing more."

"WHAT!?" Vegeta barked. "You can't be serious. How the hell do you expect me to believe such bullshit?"

"I'll leave the unknown to punish you in hell, Vegeta." Over time, Kakarot had noticed that this conversation had him weakened his attack without him noticing. He put just enough energy into his ki attack, having finally finished their little talk. "So long."

Vegeta bit his lip, cursing a million words in his head at once. He wasn't able to do anything. All of the pain and suffering he went through to experience this glorious power was all for nothing. Every obstacle he managed to push himself through was simply so he could be taken out by a lower-class warrior, one who didn't even manage to reach the power of the legend. Perhaps he deserved to die if it were to end like this.

A bright flash enveloped the entire area. No screams of any sort were heard, just the blast itself that Kakarot shot forth. The rise of the prince, who was destined to become the legend...

Was no more.


	49. The Surprise Sparring session

The review of the month goes to Luke: _"Oh wow, Kakarot is a total wuss! What's next? Poisoning his enemy's food? Stabbing them in their sleep?"_ I busted out laughing when I read it. But really, don't give me any ideas Luke, lmao.

* * *

"Breakfast's ready!" Chi-Chi's voice rang throughout the multiple-layered house. She was in the kitchen, having prepared breakfast for her and her son.

Ox was still in his bed. The young boy had a habit of being an early bird, far before his mother cooked breakfast; but not today: he was sleeping still like a rock. The previous night he went through hundreds of pages of books, wrote down thousands of words and had to test himself with dozens of exams. He didn't even eat supper as all the humdrum stacks of papers and books of work he had to do was overwhelming. The covers were over every inch of his body as he remained in his bed.

"Ox!"

The little boy could hear his mother's voice and the only way he managed to respond was with a soft groan, something his mother wouldn't have a chance in hell of hearing. Downstairs, Chi-Chi shook her head. "He's gonna come down sooner or later."

And sooner it was. Even though Ox was extremely tired and felt the need for an hour or two of more sleep, that aroma of a well done dim sum, eggs, and bacon slowly started to creep from the kitchen upstairs into his bedroom. They made way under his covers pressed tightly against his cold body and into his little nostrils, where his brain immediately got the message of IT'S TIME TO EAT! Letting his body react on his own, Ox pushed the covers off his body and rolled off his bed, landing on his side. The kid's eyes were half open, but he knew what he was doing. Slowly, he picked himself up from the ground and began to drag himself out of his room, walking with his head hunched and his shoulders slouching. Had his arms been any longer, they'd be dragging across the floor of the house.

Once Ox made it down the stairs, he could see his plate done and made. Catching eye of his mother, he saw her munching down on every piece of food she had. Seeing his mom eat almost equally to how his father did on a regular basis (when he wasn't even hungry) had the six-year-old wake up a bit more. Widening his eyes, he saw his mother with full clarity, moving from plate to plate, not slowing down one bit. This drew the boy out for a loop. Was that his mother or did his dad somehow possess her body?

"Eh...mom?"

"Ah?" Chi-Chi's head jerked right up to Ox, her mouth full of food. Pieces of rice and eggs surrounded her mouth while she met eye contact with her son. The moment was a bit awkward. Now aware that her son was present, she slowed her pace of eating and swallowed down the food she managed to consume prior to him making it downstairs. "Your food is done. You're gonna have to make your plate, honey." She grabbed her cup and took one big gulp.

"Oh, okay."

Ox did just that and got all of his plates ready and began to fill them up with tons of food that was left over for him this lovely morning. By the time he got done setting them all on the dinner table, Chi-Chi was already done with her food. "I need you to wash the dishes this one time this morning, please." The moment she finished that sentence, Chi-Chi took off upstairs.

Ox's tail swayed around, showing he was somewhat confused. He saw his mom every day and knew it was rare she acted like this. The boy was wondering what was going on with her, but his body was telling him to eat. He discarded the thought of his mom for the moment and began to chow down on food, what he was lacking quite a bit by Saiyan standards since he didn't eat supper the previous night.

A few minutes of eating was all that was needed for Ox to finish his breakfast meal. Once he emptied all of his plates, the kid swallowed down a glass of O.J. and took off to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and got ready to use the toilet. Of course any normal person would expect to see clear water once the toilet seat was lifted up. This wasn't what Ox got...not in the slightest. The kid's face turned to one of disgust once he caught eye of brownish, slimy liquid in the toilet. "I-is that vomit?" Though he identified what it was, the stench was just getting to him and elicited him to cover his nose.

After handling his business subsequent to flushing down the vomit, Ox left the bathroom and went back into the kitchen so he could wash the dishes as he was told just moments ago. Getting there he saw his mom dressed up, not wearing her usual Chinese blouse. Instead, she had on a loose jacket and some baggy pants. On her feet were basic white socks and sandals. The only thing going through Ox's head was where is my mother going? And why was she dressed like that? Even on her worst days, she didn't go out representing herself in such a casual manner.

"I'll be back home in a bit, okay?"

"Hey, where are you going?" Ox asked, the utmost curiosity itching him.

"To the store. It won't take long."

"Oh, okay. When you come back, I might not be here."

"Why?"

"Because Bulma called last night and told me she needs help with something. And she told me to go as soon as I got up this morning."

She nodded her head quickly, understanding what was going on. It wasn't all the time that Bulma called for Ox to come help her out with things, though it was definitely beginning to become more frequent. By now it was normal. "Alright, honey. See you later on today." Chi-Chi closed the door behind her and got ready to take her leave as she opened up a capsule, which poofed into a motor vehicle.

Nearing the kitchen window just above the sink, Ox could hear the engine of the car starting up. He watched as Chi-Chi ascended the car a bit into the air before taking off. "What's going on with her?" The boy's eyes motioned towards the clock, seeing it showed that it just made 11. "She usually wakes up way earlier..huh." Knowing what he had to do, Ox ran the water and got ready to clean the dishes.

* * *

In his friendly abode, he sat on the soft cushion of his couch, watching television.

On t.v. a reporter along with a crowd behind her was located in a newly built museum. "And here is the museum funded by Bulma Briefs and Sir Kakarot themselves! It's just been opened moments ago and we already have quite the audience."

The man who wanted to make the museum himself was named Mr. Niw Mousea. He was an older man, perhaps within his mid to late forties. He was short and pudgy, though he seemed well fit for his body composition. The thick glasses he wore made him seem more of an intelligent person rather than some older guy in flashy clothing. His hair was long and made it back to his shoulders, though on this special occasion, he had it styled in a clean, smooth ponytail. He wore a two-piece suit, well dressed for this event.

"Mr. Mousea" the lady reporter turned to him and placed the mic just a couple inches away from his mouth "...what inspired you to make this museum?"

The man looked ahead at the museum, which stood a couple of thousand feet high in the East City, far apart from the other buildings in the proximity, having its own personal space. "Ever since the tragic event that took place a while ago, I realized just how easy historical things could be destroyed. If something bad were to ever happen again, then I want this well made building as a reminder of the great moments in not only this era, but many more to come."

"And when did you start, Mr. Mousea?"

"About half a year ago, to be honest. I tried my best to build it up for myself, taking a few loans here, trying to handle business the legitimate way." A sudden loud cheer caught the man by surprise from behind. He raised his tone as he continued to speak so he could be heard by all the claps and mumbling going on in his area. "When I was between a rock and a hard place, I was funded by both Ms. Briefs and Kakarot themselves, no need to pay them back. Once I had explained to them how I wanted this place, they went for it, no hesitation. Kakarot funded most of the money as Bulma had her employees do most of the work."

"And so tell us about it."

The man nodded, beginning to do just that. "You see, I know that there will always be a danger to this world. You won't have to worry about anything destroying this historical piece. The inside has a lot of room, where you can put anything of significance up. But inside is only something that compliments this fine piece. On the outside, the structure may look like any normal museum. But there was special tech built into this place. It can detect any danger and make its own barrier for protection. Inside, if a fire is detected, everything, regardless if any type of material is originally waterproof or not, is guarded before the water goes to spraying, taking out any fire in any specific area. There are many more things I can list, but you see where I'm getting with this."

After listening to Mr. Mousea, the reporter turned back to the camera, where the people watching t.v. could see her. Just even from such little detail about the museum, she was quite surprised, though hid her excitement as she had to maintain professionality. "You heard all of that? Looks like we have something quite special on our hands. The opening has a couple thousand people wanting to visit already, so imagine once it's truly well known. Your local news report...signing out." The reporter winked prior to the screen being cut off.

The man watching the television sighed and stood up from his couch, already bored by what was going on. More recently he had been in this house by himself, the only company being brought over being some trollop. Without the only person left he had that was considered personal family for a while, things did get quite bland. He went over into the kitchen, where he was getting ready to fix himself some food. Before he opened the fridge, he heard his front door opening. He knew it had to be his kid. "Ah? Honey, is that you?" Right through the door appeared his little tough girl, Videl. She had a wide, happy smile on her face as she walked through the door. Her father's face lit up once he saw his six-year-old with that smile, which could make any person's day. "Hey, sweet pea." He bent down, letting her wrap her arms around his neck for a hug. The man didn't even notice how ripped and tore up the gi she wore was, which was an exact replica of the apparel to the man known as Majunior.

"Hey, daddy."

"How has your training been going, darling?"

"Just fine."

Hearing a gruff voice respond instead of his daughter, Mr. Satan detached himself from Videl and stood up to meet the person who had spoken. He knew who it was, though it had been a while since he seen the man face to face. For him, it was odd to become somewhat friendly with a green man that stood out from the rest of the crowd of normal people, though he happened to save not only his life, but his daughter's as well. For that, he accepted him.

The man patted his fro as he came eye to eye with the Namekian. "Piccolo...long time no see, hehe."

Piccolo moved his head, acknowledging Mr. Satan's greeting. He looked back down to Videl, placing his focus on her. "Videl's been making great progress."

"Has she now?" the man known as Mark asked. "I wouldn't expect no less from her. She's a determined girl." And when he said determined, Mark truly meant it. Regardless of the fact that he was a fighter and would be a good instructor for his own daughter, he erred on the side of not having to teach his little girl anything that would revolve around her possibly getting hurt. Once she made up her mind for fighting, there was practically no stopping her.

"Hehehe." Videl smirked.

Piccolo folded his arms and continued the subject. "Over time, she's progressed much faster than I expected. Even though it's just been a couple of weeks, I can tell by her quick rate of progress, she'll be one of the strongest this world has seen." If he would have added for a human, then it would appear that he'd be downplaying the girl's innate ability and potential. No matter her race, she had lots of latent power

"I couldn't be more proud," Mark said. He placed his rough hands atop his daughter's black hair and ruffled it a little, eliciting a giggle out of her.

"I just came to give you a quick update," Piccolo said. "Let's go, Videl." The Namekian turned around, letting Videl follow from behind.

"Thanks for visiting," Mark said. "I love you, baby girl!"

Videl waved as she exited the door, which she made sure to close behind her. Once they were officially outside of the house, trainer and trainee took off into the sky. "Are we going to do another sparring session?" Videl asked, just beginning to feel the cool breeze feel her skin thanks to being able to fly.

"Not with me, you aren't," Piccolo said.

Anything to help her get stronger, Videl was all ears. What Piccolo was about to tell her was nothing she'd expect. But, even still, she would more than likely be excited to do it. In the Namekian's head, he figured why not mix in a little fun with something that he knew would push Videl? Possibly far more than he could at the current moment.

After having taken care of all the dishes he needed to wash, Ox shot upstairs and got dressed. The boy put on a basic white t and some jeans, preferring the casual style of dressing over anything (thanks to influence from his father). He didn't waste anytime and prepared to head out the door. Once he stepped out on green grass, he could sense his mother was close in the area. Seeing she was on her way back home, Ox simply took off into the sky, flying just a couple thousand feet in the air.

Chi-Chi, closing in on her home, slowly started to descend the cruiser she drove in. Once she managed to land near her house, she got out of the vehicle and pressed a button on the driver's side of the door, which had the car poof back into a capsule.

She walked back into her house and immediately looked over to the kitchen, checking to see if the plates were washed. Seeing that Ox had done as she kindly requested, a little smile found its way on her face. That look quickly faded though as she realized what she had to do next. She had gone to the store for a reason and there was no time to waste.

A few minutes later, Chi-Chi was sitting on the toilet. On the bathroom sink's counter just a couple of yards away from her, there was a thin strip just lying on it. She had been waiting a bit now, somewhat anxious. Last time, everything that took place was unexpected. But from the things that were happening this morning, she was getting some flashbacks.

Once her time was up, Chi-Chi reached over for the strip and grabbed at it. There were markings on the thing, which indicated certain readings. One showed one line and the other showed two. The former would reveal that Chi-Chi wasn't with child as the second would confirm exactly that.

Once she got the result, she read the latter. She was to have another kid.

* * *

It didn't take long for Ox to reach Capsule Corp at all. The people at the front recognized him immediately and allowed the boy to enter. He headed to the back room where he knew Bulma would be working on something.

Once he got in the room, he saw Bulma standing by a counter, looking at a blueprint of something. The purple haired woman looked extremely focused on what she was looking at; so focused that she didn't even catch Ox within her peripheral vision.

"Hey, Bulma!"

Said woman nearly jumped out of her shoes once she heard a sudden voice shout her name. Once she settled down a bit, she looked at Ox, who was smiling. He knew he shocked her a bit and he found it somewhat amusing. "Oh!" Bulma sighed. "It's just you, Ox. You almost scared me to death."

"Hehe!" Ox scratched the back of his head. "I know I'm a little late, but what are we doing today?"

Bulma looked at the watch on her wrist, which read 15 past ten. "Ox, I started around 2 hours ago. And that was when I needed to get started, too. My dad is busy watching his animals and my mom..." she rolled her eyes, not wanting to even get started on her mother. "well, to be frank, I couldn't do it alone, so I got some others to help me out a bit."

Out from behind the giant metal device that resided in the middle of the room came Pilaf and Soba. "Yo!"

Ox was a bit discouraged and the decreased height of his shoulders showed so. He liked doing things with Bulma and was hoping there was still something else for him to do. "But I can still help out, right?"

"I was gonna let you help out, but someone else actually called for you."

"Huh?" Ox was left wondering just who that could even be. "Who'd want me?" The only person that came to mind was Piccolo, though he hadn't seen the man in a long time. Why would he suddenly want him?

Bulma looked behind Ox, seeing that her guest was there. "She was out watching the animals with my dad."

Seeing Bulma was already looking at the person behind him, he turned around. The moment he saw the little girl she was looking at, his eyes widened a bit. There was no need to think on it for not one second. The moment ox saw the girl's face, he knew who she was from the get-go. That same little girl at the party a not just even that long ago, the one that had beat him in arm wrestling. She had a little smirk on her face, immediately knowing who he was as well.

"Videl," Ox said. The kid made sure not to forget her name.

"So you two DO know each other," Bulma said, rubbing her chin.

"I told you she beat Ox in an arm wrestling competition!" Pilaf yelled to Bulma.

"And took all our well-earned money," Soba whined.

The woman was somewhat surprised as she remembered that. She turned around to Pilaf, who was working still. "Wait..." she then turned back to Ox. Even though Ox was a mere boy, she knows about the threats he's fought, so she knew just how strong he was. "She beat you?" Bulma found that really hard to believe. Her tone of voice and facial expression said it all.

"That's what I told ya!" Pilaf said, rolling his eyes.

"I wasn't even listening to you," Bulma shot back. "Now stop wasting time and get back to work." Pilaf shut up and did as told, not even retorting anything. "So, what are you two guys up to?" Seeing these two youngsters together reminded her as a young girl, the thoughts of her and her first boyfriend (Yamcha beginning to circulate in that genius head of hers). Bulma just couldn't hide her grin. "Are you going on a date or something?"

Ox, not expecting such a question, got a little bit red in the face and didn't respond at all.

"Something like that!" the little girl behind him responded. "Are you gonna stay here or come with me? I have something fun we can do." She exited the door, making way outside. The girl looked like she was in a rush and didn't want to spend any time fooling around.

Bulma winked at Ox and got back to looking over the blueprint she had been examining for a while. She knew the boy felt somewhat obligated to work with her, but the boy was still a kid. "You can go."

Ox shrugged his shoulders and figured why not. In the back of his head, the boy still hadn't let go of that moment he lost to her in arm wrestling. Ox followed her from behind, going back out through the front door as well.

The streets around this time weren't that busy at all. Some cars passed by every now and then, so that was truly it. Ox made it to the sidewalk, where Videl was standing, looking ahead.

Once they were near shoulder to shoulder, Ox initiated conversation. "I didn't think I'd get to see you again."

"It was gonna happen sooner or later, don't you think?" Giving her peer no warning, she grabbed Ox by the hand and shot off into the sky at high speeds.

Piccolo stood on the roof of Capsule Corp, watching over the two. He made sure to keep his energy suppressed so he wouldn't be sensed by Ox, as all of this was apart of this little test he had going on. 'Now let's see just how well Kakarot's trained his son.' Piccolo still had those thoughts of Ox's anger taking over him when they both fought to get rid of the androids that was terrorizing the planet just over a couple of years ago. Piccolo personally wanted to see how much of a fighter Ox was, wanting to know if he was much better compared to the simple four-year-old brat incapable of controlling his emotions with a lack of know-how on the battlefield. Back then, he saw the potential of him, so now he wanted to see how he'd manage to fair up against his own pupil. He expected Ox to win of course, but he needed to use him to see how far Videl could go, as well as the much that she needed.

Once the two got a certain distance nearly out of his advanced sight, Piccolo began to follow through the skies, though he made sure to keep his distance from them both.

Zooming through the air was exactly what Videl was doing. And to her, it surely did feel much like it. Ox, on the other hand, was used to far faster speeds. That wasn't the thing on his mind, though. He only wondered how in the hell some random girl his age was able to do things like suppressing her ki, which was what she did at the party. Not only that, but she was now flying. He only wondered in his head: can she fight, too? So many questions were forming in his head. He was hoping to get answers soon.

Turning his head to face her, Ox spoke up. "Where are you taking me?"

Videl went to the one place she always trained with Piccolo: the Greenlands. Once they made it there, Videl descended to the ground. Through the entire flight, she had her hand holding Ox. it wasn't until that they were on ground level that she let him go.

"Here we are."

Ox looked around the place, scratching his head in total confusion. "I'm not old enough to how any of this works, but I don't think this is how people date." They were in the middle of nowhere. The only logical conclusion he could make was a picnic, but there was no food.

"This is gonna be something different," Videl said.

"Like what?"

Videl, instead of responding with words, did so with actions. She pounced at Ox, who was off guard. She was atop him as the boy was on the bottom, his back on the grass. Videl stared into Ox's surprised eyes and grinned. "Like this." Videl raised her fists, getting ready to through a punch.

Ox reacted quickly and used his tail, which grew back, to wrap it around her wrists, stopping Videl from striking him. "What are you doing?"

Videl was caught by surprise, seeing a furry tail around her hand. "That's odd...are you some monkey or something?" Not one human that she met ever possessed a tail in her lifetime. Only anthropomorphic earthlings did, which was a common occurrence.

Ox grunted and lifted Videl off him by using his tail. The girl flipped a few yards a few times before landing with one hand. "Whoah!" There was an unusual amount of strength in just one tail attached to the body. She wasn't expecting to be thrown by such a thing.

Ox kipped back onto his two feet, still very confused. "Are you trying to kill me or something?" as far as he could tell, this was no longer a date. And even if it was, it sure as hell was not one he ever heard of.

"Kill you?" Videl shook her head. "No, I wanna fight you."

Next thing Ox knew, he was blocking rapid punches and kicks one by one. He made sure to hold back a lot of his power, studying Videl as she moved in the process. Regardless of how much he was holding back, he could tell Videl knew a thing or two about fighting. The girl was very agile and quick, fighting in a much more advanced manner than the average martial artist. She had been demonstrated a thing or two for sure.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Ox asked. The kid didn't know why, but he had a familiar feel fighting her, a familiar style. It was at the tip of his tail, but he just couldn't figure it out.

"No talking!" Videl yelled. The girl stopped her rapid pace of attacks momentarily and planted her right foot behind her left hand into the ground. She jumped back up, ramming her knee into Ox's face.

The boy didn't see this coming and paid for it. The impact of her strike had him stumbling back a bit. His nose leaked blood, but he wasn't too worried. The strike didn't hurt, but he felt a sting "Darn it!"

Videl's eyes squinted a bit. The little girl expected more a reaction from Ox with that vicious knee strike to the nose. "Are you holding back?"

Ox could tell that Videl was somewhat suspicious of him suppressing his power. She was yet to master being able to sense ki, though this was proof that she had some experience with it.

"Just a little bit," Ox lied.

Videl growled. Through every session of training she took from her master, he never held back. No matter how bad the punishment was, he made sure to push her. For her, an opponent holding back was an insult. "Then fight me!" Videl rushed over to Ox again, rendering him another series of punches and kicks, coming from all angles.

Ox felt himself in a bit of trouble as she came towards him, fighting the way she did. He knew he'd have to suppress his powers even less if he wanted to stay on top. 'She's much faster than before! She must have been holding back, too...' the boy smirked for a brief second upon realizing that she was studying his defense as he was studying her offense.

Videl ducked down and swept Ox's legs. The hybrid boy pressed his hands against the ground and used them to push himself into the air, where his hair was grazed by a kick coming from Videl. The son of Kakarot flipped over onto his two feet and got ready to defend himself yet again. He didn't get any time as Videl came for him, her relentless nature of fighting keeping the boy on slight edge.

"You really don't wanna fight me," Ox said.

Videl was getting more and more frustrated. Ox appeared to be holding back, though she wasn't able to land another hit on him. The only time she did so was by catching him off guard. It began to piss her off.

"Then we're gonna be here all day." She showed no signs of slowing down and continued her line of attacks, switching up her pattern on various occasions, just to try and get one over her current opponent.

Some of the six-year-old's questions were answered, though this surprising turn of events only managed to root more enigmas into question. For now, the main one he wanted to know was _why is she fighting me?_

Ox hopped back, missing a roundhouse kick. "Are you sure?"

Videl remained in her fighting position and nodded. Her heart rate had increased a little bit, beating a bit faster than it normally would. She was ready, but also a bit anxious.

Ox was a little reluctant to show more of his power and Piccolo could sense this himself. 'He's skilled...' Piccolo grinned. He began to note a difference in the boy's fighting compared to when he first met him. Even after training Ox himself, he was never at this level of skill. It must have had something to do with his time on Planet Namek that sharpened his sense of fighting even more. Whatever it was, Piccolo was coming up with new conclusions of his own as the battle went on.

Seeing how Videl wouldn't let up until he got a taste of his real power, he knew there was only one way to solve this. "Fine. You asked for it." At blinding speed, Ox made way towards Videl, who barely saw him come at her.

She raised her forearm in order to block the incoming punch from Ox. Luck seeming to be on her side, she barely managed to do so, and even if she did, her arm began to twitch. Ox smiled a bit before he started to go on the offensive. Now, Videl was the one being on the other side of the fence. Unlike Ox, she had a much difficult time keeping up. It wasn't even ten seconds into having to defend herself that she began to sweat bullets.

She moved to the side, though Ox eventually caught her with his tail, which smacked her dead center in the cheek. The strike was bringing her down, though Videl stayed on her toes and started to flip backwards a bit before hopping into the sky. Ox followed and got on the offensive once more.

Videl surely was struggling defensively, though she was tired of having to block. Ox was far too fast and she had to rely on her intuition, defending her mid-section. "TEH!" She managed to block a strike to the gut and started to go on the offensive this time.

Ox was getting the feel of this and blows were beginning to be traded. For Ox, Videl's punches were like aggravating stings, though he put up with it. And as for Videl, the punches she was being rendered felt like melted bricks. She put up with worse from Piccolo, so she decided to keep going.

The two six-year-old children started to go back in forth at super fast speeds, changing locations all throughout the air. Going from left to right, up to down, vertically, diagonally, or horizontally. Neither of them seemed like they were going to stop.

'The kid's definitely still holding back,' Piccolo said, thinking to himself. 'He's only raised his power high enough to where he's just above Videl's, giving her a challenge, though keeping it fair. Kakarot wouldn't even go the entire fight like that. He'd eventually overpower his opponent and end it from there. Though from what I'm seeing, the brat is nothing like his father...not at all. At least he doesn't have to depend on his emotions to strengthen himself anymore. Heh.' A bit proud of taking part of having the kid progress so much, he continued to spectate the fight, albeit he had a smile while doing so now.

For what seemed like hours, both Ox and Videl were still trading blows. Ox had a few minor bruises on his face, but for Videl, the little girl had a swollen cheek. She ignored the pain and kept fighting. While at her peak power, she increased the intensity with her ever slowly increasing frustration.

"YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"

Ox was caught with two punches, one to the face and another to the chest, being followed by a kick to the gut. Videl ascended a bit above Ox and rendered him an elbow to the head. Ox landed hard on his two feet, breathing a bit heavier than normal. Videl, while out of much more breath, kept pushing herself. She attacked Ox head on and let her fists and legs fly. The more she threw more attacks, the heavier she could feel the limbs she used to fight become. She had to constantly remind herself that progress in training doesn't come without some sort of pain.

Ox was hit a few times, though he wasn't going to let it keep happening. He noticed that her shortness of breath was beginning to slow her down, even though she tried her best not to. Ox took this as a key sign to end the fight. Videl raised her legs in an attempt to kick her opponent in the face, though Ox easily caught her leg.

The girl hopped up and tried another strike, though Ox caught that with his other hand as well. Videl wrapped her legs around the boy's neck and tried to flip him over. Ox prevented this by placing his hands on the girl's hands and lifting her up, coercing her legs to unwrap themselves by sheer strength, which he no longer was suppressing.

Ox slammed Videl on her back and grabbed her by the leg. Once he lifted her from the ground he began to spin in circles, quickly gaining momentum. Videl, never having been spent around in such a fashion, felt her entire insides going all over the place. Once she was released and sent into the air, the kid that had tossed her vanished in a split second. Just a moment later he reappeared a few dozen yards behind Videl, who was flying at him. The boy rocked her hard by ramming his fists atop her head, sending her crashing into the ground.

Ox, while in the air, wondering if he did too much. The impact of such a strike was something he would use on an enemy for sure. He had hoped it didn't hurt her really bad. Videl was in a small crater, slow to move. He was now nervous for her own well-being.

Videl, while very exhausted and bruised, found an effort to lift herself off the ground. The girl's left eye was swollen shut, but she raised her hardened and bloody dukes, ready to go another round. "C-Come on!" She spat blood down aside her, her glare never breaking contact from Ox's eyes.

Ox came to the realization that very few people could take such punishment and still be able to fight on for much longer. "I'm done." Ox descended down. "This fight is done with." The boy for sure could say this was much better than just some warm-up, but there wasn't really anything more to it. He could have ended this fight from the very second Videl had started it had he not held back.

Videl growled. She had great determination to keep pushing herself, even if it meant she couldn't stand anymore. "It's not over until the fat lady sings!" She planted her foot down hard and got ready to launch at him once more.

"It's over with!" a voice shouted from afar.

Ox's eyes widened as he was able to recognize that voice from a mile away. "P-Piccolo...?"

Having blown his cover, Piccolo got in the middle of them both. "Long time no see, boy."

"Piccolo!" Ox exclaimed. "You...I can't believe."

Piccolo grinned. "It's me, in the flesh."

"Ah?" Videl looked at Ox and back to Piccolo. The two stared at one another for a little while. Videl was young, but not dumb. She realized that there was some chemistry between them. "You know one another?"

"Yes," Piccolo said. "I was the one to train this brat."

"I-I can't believe it!" Videl said. "That's why his fighting style was so similar to mines!"

"Wait..." Ox looked over to his former teacher. "You're training her, too?" Now everything made sense. From her even knowing such advanced skills of battle and having such similar styles. All the pieces came together.

"Yes," Piccolo said. "Well...used to. Not anymore."

Videl didn't get why Piccolo would say such a thing. They hadn't been training for a month and now he wasn't all of a sudden? She failed to understand. "Are you quitting on me? You can't!" There was a sense of desperation from her voice. As much as the training hurt her physically, she loved it. It was the only path to getting stronger and she wanted more. Piccolo was her best teacher yet and she saw nobody else capable of helping her progress even more.

"Some things are necessary," Piccolo said. "I have other things I must do on my own."

"So who's gonna help me get stronger? I still need a teacher! I have a lot more to learn. You can still help!"

Piccolo grinned and looked over to Ox. "I trained the boy myself. I don't know what he's been doing these past few months, but he's managed to exceed even my power. He'll be of better use than me now."

"M-Mr. Piccolo..." Videl mumbled.

Piccolo didn't say anything else and shot off into the sky. He gave Ox a nod before he shot off into the clouds at super speed. The Namekian had done all he needed to do for the day, benefiting all three of them. He was gone within seconds.

"Mr. Piccolo..."

Ox looked back to Videl, who looked a bit discouraged. After such a long time of seeing the man, he just dumps off another trainee of his own. Ox didn't know what to do from this point on. But he'd have to figure it out sooner or later.

* * *

As weird as things were getting for Ox on Planet Earth, the sweeter things were getting for Kakarot on a distant planet. Time ran differently on different worlds. And a lot of time had passed since Vegeta, known as the Prince of all Saiyans was killed, leaving no threat to stand in Kakarot's way.

Soldiers didn't know what to think of Kakarot as the new ruler. To most, he was just some other savage monkey. Even worse, he would be considered a low class by Saiyan standards. People were still smarter than to just test him, though. The first thing he did as an order was to have Vegeta buried. Even if they had a bad history, Vegeta deserved to be buried properly, has he was one to obtain an insane feat of strength. Those were in the words of Vino, with agreement from Dedana. Kakarot only agreed to do so as he merely saw Vegeta as a trophy, another roadblock that he managed to destroy.

The Saiyan was in a circular round ship that hovered in the skies of what used to be Planet Freeza #70, in the main room. He looked down from the window, his eyes watching as multiple men were digging up dirt to feel the gigantic hole that was caused by the battle between Cold and Vegeta.

Kakarot had on basic armor, keeping the same color pattern of what he had when he first arrived on Planet Earth as a toddler. The man established how he wanted his business to be ran and now things were beginning to be set into motion.

"Things were so much more simpler than I thought it'd turn out to be," Vino said. He had anticipated a lot of hell to be brought forth when he came to this world, getting in the midst of the battle between a ruthless Saiyan and a cruel tyrant.

"I expected just as much as this," Dedana said with a grin. "Kakarot knows how to get things done."

Vino nodded his head. "I'm glad to be working alongside you."

Not even a couple of days as the proclaimed ruler and Kakarot was being given praises from left and right, even from those that had an obvious sense of envy showering over their heads. "Yes," Kakarot said. He knew it was best to think ahead, much further ahead. "But we're not done yet."

"In what sense?" Dedana asked.

"This is only one planet. I had the people to let the others know of their new ruler and how things were going to be ran...with just the wine business."

"And the problem is..." Vino asked.

"For everyone else, they've been going years with destroying worlds and selling them. This change in itself is something rather new. I can only wonder how many people will just fall into how things are going to go from now on. I doubt many will..."

"You shouldn't even worry about all of that," Dedana said, placing her hands on Kakarot's shoulder. "This infact, calls for celebration."

"I second that!" Vino yelled. Hell, he wished he could have come up with the idea of celebration in the first place.

Kakarot nodded his head. Even though Vegeta was somewhat of a heavy burden he managed to lift off his shoulders, he knew he could very well use something to alleviate some type of stress. "A total feast...food and wine. Anyone who'd like to join is welcome, of course. And after, we head back to earth to pay our friends a fellow visit before heading back out to carry out main priorities."

"We're just going to be visiting earth from now on or something?" Dedana asked.

"Our place of business has to do with being out of earth from now on," Kakarot responded. "It's best we accept the fact we won't be staying on our home planet for too long at one time, now." During his travels, Kakarot himself had to come to this realization, even though it was somewhat cold. The only two people he loved were back on earth. He was used to seeing them every day from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep. And now had to grow accustomed to perhaps only seeing them a few times per one earth year.

"You know I support anything you do," Dedana said. "I've got your back."

"As a member of this, so do I," Vino spoke out.

A shady grin formed on Kakarot's lips. "Good to know."

* * *

After a long day, Ox managed to send Videl off home. The two discussed that they will be training every other day from now on. Videl came to deal with Ox being her new master and simply went home as told. If Piccolo, who she highly admired and respected, truly believed that Ox was to help her more than he could, then she would heed his advice.

After having finished his day, Ox was somewhat tired. He wasn't exhausted, though the fight with Videl took a bit out of him. He just wanted to relax for the entire day and not have to worry about school work. The boy went off to his home, where Chi-Chi was sitting down, watching television.

Once Ox entered the house, Ox yelled out. "Mom!"

"Yes?" Chi-Chi asked.

The boy entered the living room. "You won't believe the day I had!"

Chi-Chi shut off the t.v. and looked to her child, deciding to listen in on him. "Tell me all about it."

When it came to telling things about his day, Chi-Chi was the first person Ox had thought of. He had been holding it all in and took one deep breath before he spilled all the beans of today's peculiar events. "WellithoughtiwassupposedtogotoBulma'shousetohelpherfixherthings,butitturnedoutthatihadavisitor,agirlimetatBulma' . ."

Ox was a bit out of breath from saying all that so quickly in so few sentences. The kid had somewhat of a weird day and just had to let it all out. His mother was the only person he knew would actually listen to him. "Crazy, huh?"

Chi-Chi had a little smirk on her face. She didn't mind that he spent time with a young girl as she had even much more important news to bring out. "Do you wanna hear about my day?" Chi-Chi asked. "It's nothing as crazy as yours might be, but it's far more shocking."

"Ah? Yeah, sure!" Ox wondered just what type of day Chi-Chi had that would shock him. If it wasn't as crazy, then he wondered what the twist would be.

Chi-Chi would have to let the news of him having a sibling in the house. The woman grinned and patted the cushions of the sofa near her.

"Then you might wanna take a seat for this, honey..."


	50. The Set Up

"What the hell is all of this?"

In a dark room, a meeting was being held amongst a group of a handful of men. The room was very dark, only being brightened by neon colored buttons in the room that resided on multiple keypads, computers and other technological devices.

A group of soldiers was sitting down at a round table, looking up at a man of short stature that spoke. He had blue skin and wore armor of the men of Freeza and had a cap over his head. The color of his scouter over his left eyed matched that of his skin. The back of his armor was covered by a white cape.

By him stood two men, one of a very thin and skinny stature, with pale skin and a bald head. He wore the standard armor and had a scouter over his left eye as well. The other man on the side of the short blue imp was red and had horns coming from his forehead. Just by physical looks, he was deemed highly intimidating, not if that his prowess was just enough to scare someone

These men were of Freeza's most loyal soldiers-remnants of his army that was now progressively beginning to crumble due to his downfall as well as King Cold's. They already heard the recent news of Freeza's defeat and of Vegeta coming to claim himself as the ruler. Now they had to deal with another scenario very similar to that one with the defeat of Cold and having some other Saiyan claim himself as the one to take things over.

"So another monkey kills one monkey that claims to have killed Lord Freeza. Once said monkey that claimed to kill Lord Freeza was killed, the former monkey decided to come in to kill that monkey after the other monkey took care of King Cold so he could claim the title as emperor of the universe?" A lot of people at the table were listening in on this and were somewhat at a loss, falling off track of their leader's wording as soon as he said the word 'monkey' for the third time. They remained silent. "I know I'm not the only one that hears myself speaking..."

"Y-yes, Sorbet, sir..." one of them spoke up. "That's how it did go."

Sorbet rubbed his chin, thinking on the matter. Without their rightful powerful figures, it was only a matter of time until the entire empire will come tumbling down. People will begin to rebel and fight against one another for control over various types of things, which would more than likely turn out to be totally insignificant to the primary imperative of the Freeza Force. Without them, everything would eventually come to hell. "We need to get Lord Freeza to take his world back."

"How is that even possible?" One of the soldiers at the table questioned. "You're acting as if Lord Freeza can be brought back or something?"

Sorbet stared at the man, having him seal his mouth with a simple death glare. "Had you been listening to our last couple of meetings, you'd understand that there is such a thing called Dragon Balls. From what I hear, these orbs come from the Planet Namek."

"Yes," the red soldier known as Shisami answered. "There, the Namekians have seven of them."

"I know..." Sorbet mumbled.

"Sir." The other man on the side of Sorbet spoke out.

"What is it, Tagoma?"

Tagoma just clicked his scouter subsequent to receiving a message. "We've got new information on these Dragon Balls. Apparently, they also reside on this planet called Earth. There resides the family of the man to kill Lord Freeza."

Sorbet grinned. Now if one of the planets weren't to work out, they'd have another to fall back on. It seems things were going a bit more in Sorbet's favor than he had initially thought. "Good to know. After we've gone through with our business, we can attack his family next. Tell me about this man who's put it upon himself to take Lord Freeza's rightful place?"

"Kakarot," Tagoma said. "A Saiyan that survived the destruction of Planet Vegeta."

"It'd be best to know how he plans on running the business," Shisami said.

"Agreed," said Sorbet. He turned to the other high ranking soldier. "Do you have any info on that, Tagoma?"

"Yes," Tagoma responded. "Thanks to how word gets around fairly quickly in this business, it turns out Kakarot isn't planning on doing any planet trading. He's going another route."

"And that is?" Sorbet asked. He couldn't see any other effective way besides conquering worlds and selling them for simple business to prosper. Just what could a Saiyan have in mind to keep everything up and running all the while holding power, too?

"A wine trade," Tagoma said. "He's already got the business going into motion. The same day he took Lord Freeza's place, he's decided to get the ball rolling. And from the first couple of sells he has happened to make, it doesn't seem like it's going to fail him."

Sorbet scoffed. "Bastard." It wasn't what he was expecting, not at all.

"We have coordinates of the current planet he's at right now. One of our inside men tells us he's planning on throwing a party."

"A party?" Sorbet asked. "On which planet?"

"Freeza Planet number 70," Tagoma answered. "In celebration of becoming ruler, he's throwing a feast."

"Who's our inside man?" One of the soldiers sitting in the chairs asked. Since they even heard about the despondent news of Freeza and Cold being taken out of the picture, Sorbet made sure to set his plan into motion on getting things back the way they were supposed to. In order to infiltrate Kakarot and what he had going on to end with him falling, they'd need an insider-a spy.

"He goes by Appule," Tagoma answered. "Turns out everyone else is either lying right in their place or is too scared to test the man that managed to beat a monkey who killed Cold."

"I'd be cautious myself," Shisami said. "He'd have to be a formidable foe to take on the man who killed Cold."

Having an idea, Sorbet spoke up. "Alright, enough chit-chat. If I'm correct, it won't take anything but a few hours to get to Freeza Planet #70 on one of the faster ships." He pointed to the men sitting in the chairs. "All of you get into contact with Appule and tell him to meet up with you all on the outskirts of Freeza Planet #70. There, he will lead you all to the party, which you will sabotage by getting this monkey at the perfect moment...he won't even see it."

The men listening to their superior all nodded their heads, knowing what to do. None of them wasted any time and left the meeting. Since there were 12 men, there would be six ships heading out as two each would go into a duo-ship.

Sorbet watched as his men exited the room and let out a sigh once the doors closed behind their backs. "The only way we'll be able to kill Kakarot is by reviving Lord Freeza and King Cold with the Dragon Balls."

"Not necessarily," Tagoma said, speaking as if he had something up his sleeve.

"Eh?" Sorbet looked up to Tagoma, who had a malicious smirk on his face.

"Poison wouldn't do him any good. Hehehehehe."

Sorbet not only liked the fact that Tagoma was a step ahead in thinking, but he was fond of the idea of Kakarot falling to simple poison and began to snicker alongside Tagoma. Why didn't he think of such a thing before? It would be much easier to take the Saiyan out like that rather than going in to face him head-on. If there was any way to take him out, Sorbet was going to take it.

* * *

On Freeza Planet 70, Kakarot had an entire mess hall full of food and great pitchers of wine. By his side were Dedana and Vino, who was wearing armor equal to Kakarot's, albeit they had on capes as Kakarot had a cloak. The capes and cloaks to Kakarot was a sign of superiority. His cloak was a sign of ultimate power as the capes showed one as mere superiority over those who didn't have one.

"I shouldn't be in this atmosphere any longer," Kakarot chuckled. "I might start getting to the food before guests even show."

"Heh!" Vino chuckled as well. "Should we start?"

Kakarot grinned. "Yes." He raised a cup of wine and took a sip.

Dedana clicked the purple scouter covering her left eye. "All available parties, head to the mess hall on KHQ." Kakarot Head Quarters preferred to the planet itself. Here, the skies were always black with purple clouds in the mix. When the purple clouds were gone, that's when people knew it to be daytime.

This was first of the many planets Kakarot would have to take over. He was informed Freeza had many others, so he needed that established after his visit to Planet Earth.

Kakarot and his two right hands waited for the guests to come in.

"Sir Kakarot." A soldier walked up from behind.

"Yes?" Turning around, Kakarot came face to face with a pear-shaped purple alien.

"I'm Appule, sir." He bowed, paying his respects to the Saiyan superior. "I just wanted to see the face of the man I'll be serving up close."

Kakarot raised his drink and took a sip, his noticeable stare not leaving Appule's eyes, which remained directed at the ground. "You can do me a favor and make sure to round up as many people as possible. I want the world to know that I treat my workers fairly."

"Of course, sir!" Appule bowed once more before leaving the room.

As he left, more people started to come in. Kakarot's stare didn't leave Appule as he turned the corner. He walked up to the people entering the mess hall. As he did, he turned his head, speaking to Dedana and Vino. "Make sure everything's set up nicely around here."

The two nodded, being sure they would do as told.

On the outside, Appule neared the landing sites. He took a quick look around him to see if anyone was in the vicinity before clicking his scouter. "Tagoma, sir...can you hear me?"

Appule's call was picked up quickly by his superior. "Appule, what is it?"

"When will the poison arrive?"

"When your support arrives," Tagoma responded. "They should be a couple of hours from now. You think you can wait that long?"

Appule let out a sigh of relief. "With all the food we've got set, it'll take more than just a couple of hours."

"Good to know," Tagoma responded. "Be ready when I call you, Appule."

"Yes, sir."

After having the reception cut, Appule grinned. He, unlike many others, loved the way Freeza ran business. Many of Freeza's soldiers liked to kill, while some didn't. Appule was one to fit in the former category. He longed to go out on the hunt and destroy lives, alongside many other quests. He felt whatever Kakarot had planned simply wasn't right for him. He knew others had the same mindset, so if they banded together...then just maybe they'd be able to make something out of this by removing him from the position of ultimate power.

* * *

Early in the morning, where people were just supposed to begin to wake up, none were. Regardless of the heavy rays of the bright morning sun or the ocean waves on the beach didn't seem to wake many up as only two current people were awake in the household.

Lazuli walked down the stairs of Kamehouse and entered the living room, dressed in a white T-shirt with a beach picture affixed to it and hightop jean pants. The first person she saw was Roshi, who was dead sleep on the couch with a playboy magazine covering his face.

She scoffed at the sight and headed into the kitchen, where she could smell the sweet aroma of a morning breakfast. Once she made it in there, she saw none other than Oolong, who just got done cooking up a storm.

The pig had on a tank top and some overall pants. Seeing Lazuli entering the kitchen, he didn't hesitate in showing his surprise. "You, early up this morning?" Oolong chuckled. "That's something."

"Hn!" Lazuli looked over the food Oolong had prepared, all of which were still on the stove. "Eggs...grits...dim sum...wu tong..." After looking over the last meal Oolong cooked, she looked back at the pig. "Hey..."

"Wassup?" Oolong asked, turning around as he just finished grabbing a plate to fix him something to eat.

"How are you okay with cooking this?" Lazuli asked, pointing to food Oolong had on the stove.

"Cooking what?" He walked up to her and got ontop a stool he had near the stove to see what she was talking about. "Oh, bacon?" Lazuli simply nodded her head in response. "Pfft!" Oolong got some eggs, grits, dim sum and wu tong. "I don't eat that. I just cook what I know people are gonna eat. Honestly, it used to bother me a lot, but you gotta accept what things are for how they are, ya know?" He went into the living room and sat down by a small table. Looking at her, he saw that she seemed a bit too dressed up for such an early morning. "You going somewhere?"

Lazuli walked through the living room, headed to the front door. "I'm going over by Bulma's this morning."

Now knowing that Lazuli would be headed over to an old friend's house, he hoped that she'd tell the scientific genius that he said hello. "Ah, tell her I said hey!"

Lazuli walked out the door and closed it behind her. Out of her pocket, she pulled out a capsule and looked at it. The one thing on her mind was if she should bring out the car or simply fly her way there. The blonde was on the verge of making up her mind, though the vrooming sound of a jet ski out in the distance caught her sudden attention.

Oolong could hear it, even with the television in the living room being turned on. He got up from the floor and peeped out the window, looking out into the distance. He squinted his eyes, hoping he'd be able to make out who was coming their way. "Who's that?" he asked, taking a bite of his eggs from his breakfast plate.

Lazuli, while not being able to see who it was, simply felt the familiar presence. After realizing who was on their way, a smile appeared on her face. It had been a couple of weeks since she last seen her brother. "It's Lapis."

"Oh." Oolong grabbed for another bite and kept eating.

Oolong and Lazuli watched as Lapis made way there. A few moments later and he stopped just near the shore of Muten Roshi's home. He turned off the engine to his jet ski and stood up. "What's good?" He hopped from his motor, landing on the sandy shore of Roshi's little abode.

Lazuli had her eyes furrowed a bit. She looked over to the jet ski, which seemed fairly customized. It had multiple designs and a very nice black and orange color pattern. He even arrived in a long-sleeved orange shirt and black jeans, a bandana covering his entire throat.

"How'd you get that?" Lazuli asked.

Lapis grinned. "By doing what we used to do." He winked at her. "It's a lot easier when you're as strong as I am, too."

Lazuli shook her head and grimaced at her brother, rendering a look of disappointment. "You'd really go back to robbing people after everything we've been through?"

Lapis chuckled. "Nah, I was just joking. I've actually just started working for some parks as a ranger."

"And you get that much?" Lazuli asked.

"Working multiple jobs at high positions gets me good money," Lapis responded. Lazuli began to open her mouth, going to question how. Lapis already saw it coming and answered her before she even spoke. "A technique Tien taught me on King Kai's planet. He calls it Multi-form."

Lazuli already knew what he was referring to. "Say no more."

Lapis looked over to Oolong and raised his head in acknowledgment of the pig's presence. Oolong waved with his mouth full of food. "So what are you up to?" Lapis asked.

"I'm going to Bulma's," Lazuli responded.

"Cool, I'm rolling with."

Lazuli pulled out a capsule and clicked it. "Cool." She watched as it turned into a car for two. "Hop in." She pounced into the driver's seat. Lapis mirrored her actions, ending up on the passenger side.

"You want me to save you some food?" Oolong asked in a louder tone of voice so she could hear.

"No," Lazuli answered.

"Save some for me, kay?" Lapis winked.

"Sure!"

"Alright, let's go." Lazuli started the engine to the car and took off into the sky with it.

A metal shield with microscopic holes covered the heads of Lazuli and Lapis as they traveled over the ocean. "So, what are we headed to Bulma's for? Looking for a loan?"

"No. She's supposed to be helping me make wedding plans."

Lapis figured that his sister was going to keep that on the down low by not telling many people about her and Krillin's inevitable wedding. "When did you tell her?"

"At the party just not too long ago." She looked at Lapis. "Why didn't you come?"

"Busy," Lapis said. "That's when I started looking for jobs. I found three different ones in one night. Good pay, can't lie. I might make my own park one day."

"That's good."

"So...how are you still in the house with food and everything? Last time I checked, none of you even have jobs."

"I know," Lazuli said. "Roshi still has some money from I don't know what. And we're about to run out soon. Krillin says he's looking for a job, but he doesn't know what's out there yet."

"He can work with me," Lapis said. "I can put a good word in for him."

"Maybe," Lazuli said. "We'll see."

"Cool. How are my nieces and nephews?" he asked, changing the subject.

Lazuli shook her head. "If you started visiting them more, would you stop asking that?"

"Busy," Lapis responded. "I got three jobs. A man's gotta work."

Lazuli glared at her brother. "But you split into how many people?"

"Fo-OHHH! I get you." The twin brother laughed a bit, finding his own hypocrisy amusing.

"Aha! Are you going to at least come to my wedding?"

"Maybe," Lapis said.

"Maybe?" Lazuli asked. "A woman's wedding is one of the most important moments of their life and you don't know if you'll be able to support your sister?"

"What can I say? I'm a busy man."

Lazuli let out a scoff with a half smile. "Whatever."

* * *

"Here ya go!"

"You really don't have to do this, ya know." Chi-Chi was just given a plate of breakfast, courtesy of Ox. Ever since he had been told that he was going to have a little brother or sister, he had been taking it up to himself to take care of his mom and help her a bit more than usual.

"It's nothing," Ox responded, handing her a glass of juice as well. "Do you need anything else?"

"No," Chi-Chi said, shaking her head. As much as all of the courteous actions Ox took wasn't necessary, the woman had to admit that she liked the fine gestures. She loved how her son was spoiling her this lovely morning.

KNOCK KNOCK

Ox looked over at the door. He felt out for the presence outside and knew immediately who it was. "Okay. I'll be right back."

"Who is it?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Uh...a friend." Ox made sure to not specify and quickly opened the door, closing it behind him.

Outside was Videl, who had flown her way to Ox's house. The girl noted that Ox looked like he was in a rush for something. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Ox said. The boy's long hair blew with the wind as he walked to the green grass ahead of him. "Guess what my mom told me." He had a hard time suppressing his excited grin.

"What?"

"I'm going to be having a little brother or sister." The boy couldn't help but smile just saying it. He was going to have a someone else in the family. It got boring being the only child in the house sometimes, especially without his dad around as much.

"That's pretty cool," Videl said. The girl rubbed her arm.

"Do you have one?" Ox asked.

Videl just shook her head. "Just me."

"Why don't you ask your mom and dad to give you one? I'm pretty sure they will if you ask." Videl, remaining quiet, simply shook her head. Ox didn't quite understand and wondered why she was responding the way she did. "Are you okay?"

Videl erased those thoughts from her head and got into a fighting stance. "Are you ready or not?"

"Do you want me to teach you anything in particular?"

Videl shook her head. "Mr. Piccolo taught me everything I needed to know. He said I was a quick learner. And seeing how he pushed me, it just made me progress a lot faster...especially with those beans he'd make me eat."

"They're called senzu beans," Ox answered. Just except that one time Piccolo spoke to him and Videl, he and the Namekian hadn't really communicated with one another in ages. "And I do kind of wonder how Mr. Piccolo is doing."

Videl, not wanting to speak any longer, lunged forward at Ox. "Let's fight!"

Chi-Chi completely ignored her meal and looked out the window of her home. "Is my boy out there with a little girl?" Keeping her eyes peeled, she watched as they began to fight one another. Being the mother she was, Chi-Chi wanted to rush out of that door and tell Ox to stop whatever he was doing right now.

But on second thought, she already knew how her boy was. Kakarot always fed him the fact that he was his own man and nobody could really tell him what to do besides his own father. Ox wasn't going to stop. And besides...the smirk on his face showed he was having fun. That very same smirk Kakarot used to have when he sparred with Chi-Chi when they were youngsters living together.

* * *

Out in the Greenlands-The Namekian Piccolo's favorite spot-said person hovered in the skies in a lotus position with his legs crossed and fingers from each hand touching one another. When the Namekian wasn't spending his time training for physical improvement or fighting an enemy, he would spend his time meditating to clear his mind. As far as meditation went for Piccolo, he would always find his mind to be completely empty. This time it wasn't quite the same, though.

When he tried to focus simply on his breathing, in attempt to sway away at thoughts that would occur, they'd simply come right back, and stronger than the last time. He was having an obvious frustrating time as the fangs in his mouth began to show with his low growl.

For the past few hours now, Piccolo found himself having difficulty meditating. This was truly the only moment where he found himself at peace and he couldn't even do that for the time being. It was beginning to get on his nerves. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' Piccolo preferred to stick to his normal routine of keeping his head void for a few hours, for moments of clarity. But the building frustration just made him focus even less.

'Perhaps instead of trying to throw away those thoughts, you just may need to let them come to you.'

Piccolo's mind was suddenly filled with a voice and very familiar one. He had a hard time pinpointing it though, as it felt somewhat different than before. 'Kami?' It was only a guess.

'It is I, yes, Piccolo.'

Piccolo scowled. 'What the hell do you want?'

'I can sense you've been having trouble. For the past few weeks now, you've felt yourself somewhat confused about what it is that you truly want to do. I know you're trying to meditate, but whatever is bothering you, you must face it head-on. Figure out the problem and resolve it.'

'And I should listen to you because? I know you better than anyone else. You're trying to sway me good with your words. You really think I still don't have the thought of earth being at my feet in the back of my head? If you're trying to lead me well, don't waste your time.'

'And it's you with the same old judgments, Piccolo. I'm not trying to sway you to the righteous path because I know you're already on that path.'

'I beg your pardon?'

'You yourself may not even know it yet, but your days of evil are long gone. The Piccolo I used to know would actually take pleasure in seeing other humans kill one another instead of going out of their way to save them. To spend time with the girl you saved, even the son of perhaps your toughest enemy...is not something Piccolo Daimao would have done. You're different than that and you know it. Your only problem is that you can't accept it. You're right on the path of good, but you can't take that first step. I know not if you fear that you may lose your footing, but you should keep going, just knowing it's the right way.'

The more that Kami spoke to him, the more Piccolo was beginning to get pissed off. 'Spare me that nonsense.' Piccolo did his best to try and keep his cool, but his tone of voice seemed to get violent, even though he was simply communicating with Kami telepathically.

'I didn't talk to you to frustrate you, Piccolo. I simply seek to help...'

'Whatever the hell you say, old man...'

Piccolo remained quiet, awaiting a response from Kami. Seeing how it was just complete silence for the moment, Piccolo grinned and decided to get right back to doing what he just was moments before.

'I never thought I'd get a moment to speak with you, Son of Katas.' Piccolo's eyes shot open the moment he heard the change of voice. 'Unlike Kami, I won't regurgitate the exact words he has told you.'

'Who the hell are you...?' Piccolo knew by the voice that it sure as hell wasn't Kami. But this person he was speaking to, no matter how unfamiliar, felt extremely close to him.

'If you want to be able to meditate without being bothered, perhaps it's best that you let your mind wander. Whatever these thoughts are trying to penetrate your brain, let them. Whatever it is, it's most important for you to know. And whenever you let those thoughts come to you...whenever you start to think and reflect on those thoughts...will be the moment that you just may finally be at peace. And then you'll finally get the answers of what you're looking for. You won't be lost ever again as you are now.'

Piccolo was left completely speechless. He remained hovering in the sky, eyes wide. Whoever had spoken to him, not only took him by surprise when his guard was lowered but broke through whatever defense mechanism he had going through his head.

Innately, Piccolo knew what Kami spoke to him of was completely right. The Namekian had a hard time accepting...but these times for his mental state felt not dark or bright, though simply empty and gray. If letting these thoughts come to him were to truly help...then maybe he should do as advised..?

There was only one way for Piccolo to find out.

* * *

Bulma looked up at the machine she was almost done building. Her, Pilaf and Soba looked over it. "Looks good, doesn't it?" They had spent multiple hours just working on one of these. The outcome of such a thing made it all feel worth it in the end, though.

"What is it for?" Pilaf asked.

"It's a gravity machine," Bulma responded. "Instead of just going up to one hundred times earth's gravity, it can reach one thousand. We're not even halfway done yet, as there is a lot of stuff I want to install in the ship."

Pilaf wiped the sweat falling down his forehead. "Geez. When do we get a break?"

Through Bulma's doors entered a young, blonde female and her twin brother. Bulma caught eye of them both coming in and looked over to Pilaf. "You can go chill out now if you want."

Soba and Pilaf both let out a sigh of relief as they exited the room in a hunched position. Both were extremely exhausted from the constant non-stop working. It was a surprise Bulma didn't put them back to work with her simply conversating as she normally always did.

Bulma tended to the two that came in. "Lapis!" Bulma called out. "Long time, no see."

"Howdy.." he greeted.

Bulma looked over to Lazuli. She knew exactly what she was here for and didn't think that she'd actually come through. "I see you're serious about this, huh?"

Lazuli nodded. "You have any idea how we're going to do this?"

Bulma nodded. "To be honest, I already have it all planned out. That's why I told you to come by later on in the week."

"So hit us with it," Lapis spoke. He preferred to simply get to the bottom of things instead of beating around the bush like most people.

"Six months from now, you and Krillin are going to have your wedding in Mr. Mousea's museum."

"The one that was just opened?" Lazuli asked. Like many people, she had either seen the recent opening or heard about it on t.v. One day she even got to see it up close as she took simple flight through the air alongside Krillin one beauteous evening.

Bulma grinned. "Yes."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Lapis asked. "That must cost a fortune."

"Mr. Mousea and I talk a bit. He told me that he plans on making a category in the museum of couples getting married."

"I'm sure they cost a fortune though," Lapis said. "Getting married in a place like that? Hm."

"It costs 250 million Zeni," Bulma said. "If you have that kind of money, you can throw in a wedding and the best party of your life right there." Of course, only people with high maintenance and good money could be able to afford such a thing, the elitists being more likely to execute such events so to speak

"You shouldn't," Lazuli said. "We can just do a standard party. 250 million is too much."

"PFFT! Even for a person like me, that's nothing! Besides, if it weren't for me helping him fund the museum so it could be made, then he wouldn't be in every newspaper today. So for that, I get to do it for free."

Lazuli's eyes widened. "You're bullshitting."

"I don't talk stuff that smells," Bulma said with a cheeky smirk.

"Heh! Well then..." Lapis looked over at his sister. "Looks like you've got quite the party. Guess I'll have to go then."

"Make sure to tell as many people as you can," Bulma told Lapis and Lazuli. "I want everyone we know over there. Bring more if you have to."

"Consider it done," Lapis said. He nudged his sister's shoulder and began to head out. "I'll be in the car, sis."

"So, what do you think?" Bulma asked. "The museum has hundreds of thousands of space. It's practically like a castle. We can take over one hundred pictures of the wedding party, and the wedding itself...and it won't even cover one-hundredth of the walls in that place!"

Lazuli unexpectantly reached for Bulma and hugged her tightly. The 29-year-old genius didn't expect this but took such a warm gesture nicely. "Thank you, Bulma." Lazuli, realizing Bulma was losing air, backed up. "I'm forever in your debt."

"Nah!" Bulma looked back at her blueprint. "You've helped save the world, didn't you? I'm forever in your debt. Remember, six months from now! On the tenth!"

Lazuli nodded as she made way out of the door. "Got it!"

"PILAF! SOBA!" Bulma yelled at the top of her lungs. "BACK TO WORK!"

The two came running behind Lazuli as she walked out of Capsule Corp. The blonde went over to her car, expecting to see her brother in there. "Alright, we're headed back to Kame hou-" Lazuli saw that nobody was in the car.

In the passenger side was a note, which she saw. She picked it up and unfolded it a couple of times.

"Sis, sorry. Something important came up and I had to bounce. I know you'll understand. I'm a very busy man."

\- Hate Lapis.

Lazuli shook her head and balled the paper up. She threw it on the ground prior to hopping in her car and driving off. On the flip side, everything went even better as planned for her day out.

* * *

A while had passed and the celebration was getting good. People around simply drunk wine and ate as they spoke with one another, socializing. This type of thing didn't really happen while under the rule of Freeza. This provided an opportunity for a lot of people to loosen up, something they never got to do much.

Kakarot, Vino, and Dedana each stood in a corner of the mess hall side by side, which was filled with well over a hundred people. Kakarot and Vino both had a glass of wine in their hands as Dedana just had her back against the wall, watching over.

Kakarot looked over the people in the room, drinking, speaking, the usual. "Just watch as they all let themselves get loose."

"You know what they say on earth?" Vino asked. Having his attention, caught, Kakarot turned his head to Vino. "The words of a drunk man..."

"Are the thoughts of him sober." Kakarot finished.

The two chuckled. "Cheers to that one." Vino lifted his glass, as did Kakarot.

Once the two glasses touched, they both gulped down the rest of it. "You two must have high levels of tolerance," Dedana commented.

Vino chuckled. "My species used to live on wine prior to going extinct. This is nothing for me."

Kakarot looked over to Vino. "Extinct you say?"

"Yes," Vino responded. "I and my nephew Duvin are the only survivors. We came from a world called Niaw. We had just over 10,000 people in our world. That was until it was attacked. I was just a boy back then, but hell, I got my nephew Duvin and we got the hell out of dodge."

"Need more, fellas?" Dedana asked. She saw that their glasses were empty and would more than likely love some more.

"Yes, please," Kakarot answered.

"Heh!" With the snap of her fingers, the glasses of Kakarot and Vino were filled halfway.

"Thank-you." Kakarot took a sip of his wine.

"Regardless, my people lived on wine. Those couple of weeks traveling from my world to earth was pure hell. I felt drunk."

"So a lack of wine has you drunk," Dedana said.

Kakarot chuckled. "Now we know who's been drinking some of our wine on the ship."

Vino chuckled. "My apologies, sir. But yes, we indeed do live on it. When they killed my people, they took everything from it. I highly doubt there's anything left of it."

"Who are they?" Kakarot asked.

Vino shrugged his shoulders. "Hell if I know."

"Hn. We just might have to visit your world someday."

"You wouldn't survive. The air there is based on wine itself. If you truly wish to do so, then we can. I doubt the world has been sold yet."

"Then that's going to be a place we definitely have to tend to sometime soon. Truth is, we have to visit Planet Anded. We're going to pay our friend a little visit and see how business up there is going."

"No problem with that," Vino spoke.

"AY, AY, AY!" A soldier with a chicken bone in his hand neared Kakarot and the others, wobbling as he walked. In his other hand, he had a glass of wine. "Gagawop!"

Kakarot furrowed his brow. "What...?"

"He said your name," Dedana said.

"Gagawop!" the man repeated, this time laughing. Everyone else surrounding the trio looked as his loud voice caught the attention of others. "How is it, sire? Heheehehehe..." Kakarot just stared at this man with a slurred speech as he bowed. "ahahaha!" He turned around and faced some of the other people who were looking at him. "Look at me...bowing down before a monkey!" He stood up and busted out laughing. He ate a piece of his chicken, laughing in Kakarot's face. "How did a monkey Saiyan come to power, eh?" Near every word he spoke, a piece of meat flew from his mouth, grazing Kakarot's cheek. He threw the bone on the ground and took a giant sip of wine.

"This man is obviously out of it," Dedana remarked.

"Intoxicated for sure," Kakarot said with a smirk, taking a sip of wine.

"So what you gonna do monkey? You think you're gonna be a better ruler than Freeza: the man who slaughtered your race and killed your father! HAahahaha! Yeah, I was there that fateful day. I can't believe I just noticed. You look just like that low-level trash that fought Lord Freeza to the end...only to get blown away! So I'm tryna figure out how the hell did his son get so strong? Did you find some specially powered bananas or something?"

Kakarot was having a hard time holding in his laughter. As highly insulting as these horrible jokes were, they were amusing just based off how stupid they were. Vino noticed this and looked around him. People from all over were staring now. "Sir..." Vino neared Kakarot's ear. "He's blatantly disrespecting you."

"I see that." Kakarot took another sip of his wine. "Though he's just drunk."

"Look..." Vino made sure that only Kakarot heard him. "I know this type of business...every action you make is scrutinized. A world like this is based on respect and fear. If you let this man continue with his words and simply walk off...then others will deem you weak and try to step over you. The way that a king falls is by not having the respect and or fear that he needs."

"Although he's only drunk," Kakarot said.

"Remember...the words of a drunk man are the thoughts of him sober...and to say you'll be taken down? Imagine how many other people have the same thoughts of having you fall encircling in the back of their heads."

"Tch!" the man spat at Kakarot's boot. "That's why you're going to get killed tonight. Hehehe...dumbass. You don't even know who's going to be behind your death either. But just be ready for it." He turned around, laughing his head off. "Don't worry gents. This orangutan won't be our ruler for long." He gulped down more of his wine, his face now at the crowd, who were all silent. He basked in his moment of short glory.

TSZING!

The wine glass that was in the drunk's hand shattered the moment it hit the steel floor.

TSZING!

The drunk was frozen in place momentarily. Looking down, he noted two holes placed through his chest. "A-Agh..." he touched them both, in a state of shock. Looking at his white gloves, he noticed that they were now tainted with green...his own blood.

PEW!

A shot came right through the head. His body twitched as he fell down to the floor, void of life. Behind him was Kakarot, who had the tip of his finger stuck out. Everyone in the room was used to death, so this surprised nobody. If it were Freeza, he wouldn't even let him finish speaking.

Kakarot looked over at his dead body with a blank stare. He walked over him and placed his boot on the man's back. Looking up, he eyed the audience surrounding him. Just at the thought of people actually planning on killing him had him somewhat concerned now. It was best to nip the problem in the bud as soon as possible. "Now who are the fools that plan on taking me out?" Looking over everyone, nobody spoke. The look on Kakarot's face got somewhat impatient. "Fine." The Saiyan really didn't want to do what he was about to. But drastic causes called for drastic measures. He raised his hand, which began to generate with purple ki. "For every 5 seconds someone doesn't speak, 5 people die."

Everyone was still silent.

"One..."

Vino looked at Kakarot and the others. The man didn't have a liking for bloodshed, though he could take it. Seeing how his own family was murdered, this brought back unwanted memories.

"Two..."

Dedana looked at Vino. "One secret: Kakarot was apart of this organization once."

"Three..."

"He killed some of my own people in cold blood and didn't seem to care for it...that's how I know..."

"Four!"

"...he won't hesitate to kill here!"

A sharp sting went through Vino's head just before Kakarot said five. "Sir!"

Kakarot slowly turned around, looking onto Vino, an expression of aggravation plastered on his face. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I just felt 12 ki's landing here from a few hundred miles."

Kakarot closed his eyes for a brief moment to confirm if what Vino was saying was true and not just something to prevent him from taking out some of the people in this very section. "I feel one right next to them."

"Appule!" Dedana spoke out.

Kakarot nodded, getting who it was. "It's always good to know there's an inside man on the job. Dedana, come clean up this mess. Vino...you stay here and keep an eye out for these people. I'll go take care of the unwanted mess."

"Yes, sir." Vino looked over the crowd and took another gulp of wine. "Everyone resume! This night isn't over yet!"

"Alright, do you have the stuff, Pom?" Appule was looking at another man of the same specimen that he was, albeit he had an orange complexion. They were very far out on this planet, in areas where sane people wouldn't dare to come. Here they felt nobody would manage to track them down, even with the use of scouters.

"Yes, Appule..." Pom handed Appule a needle. "Listen, all you need to do is put the needle in a drink and press the small button on the side. It's more of a virus than a simple poison. If you're willing to take one for the team, you can try and stab him directly."

"No, not necessary," Appule said. "I've got it."

"Your little reunion has to break up." Kakarot began to descend down from the skies. Looking around, he scoffed. Just behind the group of men was a deep ravine, which lead to certain death. "You meet on the outskirts just to plan to kill me?"

"Shit!" Appule yelled. With Kakarot here and aware of their plans, it was less likely that everything would come out a success. He felt panic surfacing.

"Plan C!" Pom raised his hands. "Get him with everything you've got!"

Kakarot just stood there as all 12 soldiers blasted him head-on. The ki attacks all flew right past Appule, who was wide-eyed. Each of them hit Kakarot head on. Appule turned around, seeing the smoke beginning to build up.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Appule began to run out of the area. He of all people knew Kakarot was strong enough to endure simple blasts from far inferior soldiers. He decided to play it smart hid behind a tree to survey everything carefully. "I just have to get him at the perfect moment..."

After a while of hitting Kakarot at point-blank range, everyone finally came to a stop. None could see Kakarot at the current moment, so they just waited.

"What the hell are you fools doing?" Pom asked. "Check your fucking scouters!" He clicked it constantly, trying to get a reading.

PIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"He's still alive!"

"How in the hell..."

It was at this moment that people began to get terrified.

"I-I thought that everything about him was just all talk...I-I'd never think that he truly be as strong as they say!"

With the sway of his hand, all of the gust of smoke vanished in a split second as his cloak went behind him. Kakarot was revealed to be completely unscathed, though he had minor scratches on his armor.

The Saiyan stuck his hand out. Such weaklings didn't deserve the time of day when it came to fighting against him. All he had to do was kill them and be over with it. "Good-Bye."

They began to turn around and run. Kakarot chuckled and put his hand down as the cowards all realized it was too late. Each and every single one of them was in such a panic that they forgot they were on the edge of a cliff.

Kakarot rocketed into the air and blasted each and every one of them. He made sure to strike one individual at least twice for confirmation that they wouldn't get back up from certain death. The Saiyan watched as the scorched bodies slowly fell to their burial grounds.

He couldn't deny the fact that he took a bit of pleasure from it. "Now to that bastard Appule.."

"Right here sucker!" Appule came behind Kakarot and stuck a needle into his neck with as much force he could manage.

Kakarot rammed the back of his head into Appule's face, taking the alien by surprise. The Saiyan turned around in the air and pulled the needle from his neck. "Tell me..." Kakarot threw the needle at Appule, which struck him directly in his chest. "Who the hell are you inside for?"

Appule growled. He looked at Kakarot with a look of pure hate and disgust. "I can accept that I'm going to die. But hell, it's at least going to be with honor."

Kakarot slowly glided closer to him, closing in on the distance that they had on one another. "I'll make sure not to kill you if you speak."

Appule wasn't buying that one bit. "You liar! I've done the same shit! You can't pull a fast one on me!"

Kakarot stared into Appule's eyes, his facial expression not changing. "I'm a man of my word."

That stare Kakarot gave him sent shivers down Appule's spine. It was a fear equal to, if not, worse than Freeza's. Yes, Freeza was a cruel and sadistic bastard, but he knew how bad Saiyans could get, too. They were just as bad as Freeza. "A-Are you sure?"

Kakarot was within mere inches from his face making contact with Appule's. "It's a promise."

"O-Okay. Sir Sorbet! He's one of Lord Freeza's most trusted soldiers! After hearing about the fall of Cold and Freeza, he plans to wish them back with the Dragon Balls! That's all I know!"

"From what Planet?" Kakarot asked, his voice getting deeper.

"Uh...I don't know. They're sending soldiers to Planet Namek, but Sorbet is headed to Earth right now!"

Kakarot headbutted Appule in the face and grabbed the needle. "I appreciate the cooperation." He pressed the button that permitted all the poison inside to be released into Appule's blood stream.

Appule's pupils began to dilate as he stared into Kakarot's eyes. "Y-you promised..."

"I said I wasn't going to kill you. As for the virus..." Kakarot let the needle go. He didn't remove his glare as Appule slowly fell down to the ground, his heartbeat beating at far faster rates than it should be. It could be seen pumping against his chest, through his armor. Kakarot looked onto him until the man came to a stop. "that's another thing."

Kakarot clicked his scouter. "Dedana, Vino...come meet me at my location right now. We need to head out as soon as possible. Also, send some men to take care of a problem on Planet Namek." Kakarot looked behind him, spotting a few of the pods that the soldiers came in. He thought about taking one of their ships but knew it'd be best to head out on his own. "Can't waste any time..."

* * *

After a couple of hours of training, Ox and Videl were finally done for the day. Videl was sitting on her behind, taking in deep and heavy breaths. She had scratches and bruises on her body, leaking blood in certain areas.

Ox, on the other hand, just looked completely worn out. He made sure to suppress his power enough to challenge Videl for sure. Each sparring session, he pushed her to the very limit. "So..." Ox fell down on his butt, dripping sweat. He could feel his long hair getting stuck to the skin of his back. "you still thinking about having a little brother or sister?"

Videl couldn't believe Ox was still on this topic. The girl sighed and simply spoke the truth. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

Ox looked at her with a look of confusion. "Why?"

"She passed...not too long ago." Videl stood up. "And ever since...daddy has been with other girls." Videl kept her eyes focused on the ground. Staring at the green grass, she tried her best to keep tears from falling.

Ox finally grasped to understand the situation. He hadn't thought about it in a long time, but he recalled when his mother died. Those feelings, as well as the memories, came flooding back to her. Ox stood up and walked over to Videl, who was wiping her eyes.

"I think I can help." Ox looked at the door, which was open. He looked at Chi-Chi and gave her a warm smile. Having offered Videl a hand, he waited until she grabbed it.

Videl wiped her eyes a bit more before finally grabbing at Ox's hands. He lifted her up and patted her on the back. "my mom and I can help cheer you up." He pointed at Chi-Chi, who walked back into the house.

"Come on." Ox didn't give it a second thought as he walked with Videl, but he held her hand the entire time until they neared the door of his home.

Videl noticed the simple gesture, however. And that wasn't something she would just forget.


	51. Good Day Gone

Far away from the cities in a very small, yet simple area, a tall, three-eyed man and a small white pale skinned male worked their morning away farming. There were multiple lines of green grass with various crops growing to supply the two. Chaotzu worked himself in simple denim overalls and a farmer's hat made of hay. At the current moment of the radiant morning, he was tending to the animals, who all had their different sections inside a towering, green barn. The half dozen pigs were all in a cage with space large enough for them to all roam around freely and socialize with a lack of complaints. The chickens were on the other side of them, pretty much doing the same, and the horses remained in their respective places, having already been fed. As they were all inside, the animals that remained outside the barn simply wandered around were mostly the cows, who were all quite imperturbable, which made it quite easy for Tien and Chaotzu to deal with them.

Tien was outside in the heavy sun, slaving himself away voluntarily. He had everything but a shirt and a hat on. No matter how much clothing he did or did not have on, the hot sun would make the coolest of people sweat, even just a little. In order to make things move a lot faster, Tien had split himself into four separate versions, something he called the multi-form technique. As if that wasn't enough, he utilized his special technique: The Shiyoken, an ability that enabled him to grow two extra arms from his back. He used these special abilities to his advantage with each of his clones to make work very ephemeral. This usually had him done with his job by the time the afternoon came around. This only lasted him a Chaotzu an hour or two, give or take to be finished with the entire farm.

The official Tien, not one of the clones, raked up cow manure in the outskirts of their 1,000-acre farm, making sure to build up some more soil. He was very diligent in getting things done swiftly so he'd be able to attend to other personal matters as soon as possible. While he was in his zone, tuning everything that surrounded him out, he tuned out the sounds of everything in his proximity, simply doing his job. He and Chaotzu had been making a good living off farming when the two weren't training with one another. It was very old-fashioned work, especially compared to what others did nowadays, though this was what the three-eyed martial artist excelled at.

"Tien!" Chaotzu came floating towards his friend, having finished his duty for tending to the animals. "Hey, Tien, I'm finished with the animals." Chaotzu noted that Tien didn't hear him as he continued on raking the manure. Chaotzu made sure he was heard this time by cupping his hand around his mouth and shouting his friend's name. "TIEN! I FINISHED TENDING TO THE ANIMALS!"

The waves of Chaotzu's high pitched voice got to Tien and took the man by surprise. "Whoah!" He began to stumble a bit as he lost his balance. The rake he used slipped out of his hand and fell into the 10-foot manure he managed to pile up. He planted his foot as hard as he could to retain his balance. He stood there for a while, looking at his pale friend. "H-Hey..."

Chaotzu just blinked, looking down by Tien's foot. "You stepped in something..." he said, pointing down below

Looking down to where Chaotzu pointed, Tien had his eyes glued to a portion of his leg stuffed in the same pile of manure that he happened to be raking up earlier. "Dammit, again..." Chaotzu covered his mouth, stifling the laughter he was trying to bad to hold in. Tien removed his foot and wiggled it, shaking off the poo he got on his leg.

"I finished tending to the animals," Chaotzu said, reciting what he initially told Tien just moments ago.

"Ah..." Tien completely ignored the fact that he stepped in shit, trying to block that out of his mind. Nodding his head, he acknowledged what Chaotzu told him. "Cool. We should probably head back in for now, grab something to eat before we come back out and finish everything up."

"Alright!" Chaotzu and Tien both ascended off the ground, hovering in the sky. The two made way to their home, which wasn't all that big, though most comfortable for the two of them. It was an average sized home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The first area upon arriving in the house would be the kitchen, the next one on the side being the living room.

It was a very bland home, though Tien preferred it very simple. The walls were colored white and green, still representing the school he used to train in as he was a youngster. On these walls were kanji of his name as well as Chaotzu's and what he stood for. There was one couch in the living room that could hold up to three people, and one 60 inch television across from it affixed to the wall, which was something Tien barely watched. That was mostly what Chaotzu and another guest of theirs watched for the time being.

Tien looked at the fine dining table made of wood covered with a green silky linen, though no plates filled with food happened to be atop. This was what he and Chaotzu expected every time they came into the house, mainly because they had somebody temporarily staying for them that usually cooked for them at times like these.

"She didn't do it again," Chaotzu said, pressing his lips together. He was a bit disappointed that he didn't come back to the house with a prepped meal simply waiting for him on the dining table.

Tien shook his head and sighed. "Launch!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He didn't dare to repeat himself again, knowing his loud yells was far more efficient than that of an alarm to simply wake up a person, no matter how much of a deep sleep they happened to be in.

Just a couple of moments later, as if on cue, a drowsy woman with a tank-top and simple white panties came out the room, rubbing her tired and gloomy eyes. "What?" she asked, some hostility in her voice.

Tien crossed his arms, looking at the blonde. "You haven't made food for us to come eat."

Launch rolled her eyes and placed her arms against the wall, crossing her naked legs. "And I should care, why?"

"Because that's what you always do," Chaotzu said innocently, trying to prevent any unnecessary tension from rising.

Launch sighed. She had met Tien incidentally when she was on the run a couple of weeks ago. From the moment she laid eyes on the bald guy, she had this innate crush on him that she was yet to admit to anyone. Only for Tien she would do things such as cook, even while she was in her worst moods.

"Look, I'm sorry okay...I had a rowdy night."

Tien went over to the fridge in the kitchen, looking at what they could possibly have for a brunch today. "Are you gonna cook or will I have to make it?" Asking this itself was somewhat a trick question. Tien wasn't the best cook in the world and when he did cook, one would have to force themselves to actually chew the food and swallow without making any gagging sounds. All he was best at was rice and simple ramen. Launch had a taste of his food on his best day and it wasn't remotely bearable.

Launch smacked her lips and rushed Tien out of the way. "Fine!" She reached into the cool refrigerator and grabbed a carton of eggs among other things to prepare to eat.

"You are coming out to farm with us too, yeah?" Chaotzu asked.

"Yeah, we could use an extra pair of hands," Tien added.

Once she set the food on the counter, Launch let out a suppressed sigh, showing she was already agitated. The woman was known to not being a morning person, but she had to do so many things just to be able to have a roof to live under and a bed to sleep on. "I don't even know anymore." She looked over to Tien. "I appreciate you guys helping me out and all, but this is honestly a bit too much."

"I get it," Tien said. "With farming comes hard work. Getting up at times you don't even want to just to do the same thing. I get it-it's mundane, but the hard work pays off."

"If you say so," Launch uttered, her voice quite fickle, more so than usual.

"Thanks, Launch." He grabbed him two cups of water and placed it under the sink, which was running cold water. Once he managed to get both of the glasses half full, he gave one to Chaotzu and kept the other for himself.

Launch tuned herself into cooking, her mind wandering all over the place. She liked Tien, sure, but being here wasn't where her heart was entirely at. One side of her did indeed cherish being here more, but that same side didn't like putting in as much work either. She wasn't sure just how much longer she'd stay. By the time both Chaotzu and Tien were out the door getting back to work, she had made up her mind for sure.

* * *

"So in six months, huh?"

Everyone that lived in Kame house had just been told about Lazuli's wedding and where it would be held, just a couple of days after being told about it herself. Oolong, Turtle, Roshi, and even Krillin, the future groom himself, were just being told about this.

"Seriously?" Krillin asked, trying his best to hide his internal joy. "At the recent museum that opened up?" The bald martial artist was just about on edge. If anything, he expected the basic wedding party. "Oh, man! I'm so glad to have Bulma as a friend!" It was here he realized just how good it was to have rich friends.

Roshi giggled to himself, thousands of prurient thoughts circling in that over the hill head of his. "So, just how many people will be over there?"

"About as many as possible, I'm sure!" Oolong exclaimed aloud. "Man, and it's just six months away?"

"I already marked the calendar," Lazuli said. "Everything will be ready on the date."

"You know what this calls for," Oolong said, getting up from his bottom. Everyone was attentive to him, awaiting what was to come next from his mouth. "We need to go shoppin'!"

"Hehehe!" Roshi got up, taking after Oolong said without hesitation. "Oolong here is right! We need ta' go find some clothes ta' impress the ladies, hehehehe."

"High five to that!" He and Oolong smacked their hands together. A sweat drop came down Krillin's face, seeing how neither of them had changed at all from their deviant thoughts in recent years.

"I'll go get the car capsule ready." Oolong made his way up the stairs to Roshi's room, recollecting exactly where it was placed.

Roshi stayed on the floor for a bit more, haven't yet internalized what Oolong just said. Immediately, a vision of Oolong scavenging through all his mags and taking some for himself flashed through his head. "Wait!" the senior hopped onto his feet. "Lemme help ya!" he dashed up the stairs, taking Lazuli and Krillin by surprise.

"I didn't know he could still move like that," Lazuli said, chuckling.

"Haha," Krillin rubbed his bald head. "Master Roshi still does some secret training, you know. He's nowhere near our level, but he's really powerful for his age."

"Yeah. Are you staying here or should I?"

"I'll stay," Krillin said. The man never had a problem staying home to watch after his own children. In fact, he enjoyed it. Spending time with his own kids was moments where he felt like he bonded most with them. "Just be careful picking out my outfit."

Lazuli scoffed, smirking. "I know your style, Krillin. I'll make sure to pick something just right for you." She bent over and kissed him on the cheek. "We'll be back in a jif, okay?"

"Take all the time you need."

"Alright, we're ready!" Oolong came down in a basic military outfit, ready to head out into the city for some clothes shopping. Roshi had himself in his orange martial arts buttoned-down shirt and blue pant jeans with sandals. The old man had his cane in hand, though it wasn't like he used it for any particular reason anyhow. He fixed his trademark shades, ready to bounce out. The only thing on his mind was getting to see some fine young girls at the malls in the city.

"Alright, let's see what we can find."

As Oolong and Roshi came down the stairs, Krillin made his way back up to tend to his kids, who were sleeping last time he checked. "Alright, guys! I'll see you later!"

Turtle and Krillin both waved them off as they exited the door. They watched as they took out their vehicle from the capsule. Once the engine roared, they took off in a split second.

"I sure hope Master doesn't catch a charge," Turtle said, watching them fly off through the window.

"Heh!" Krillin headed up the stairs. Once he was on top, he made way to the last door on the right and turned the doorknob, entering the room. Inside, there were four cribs. Two were placed together as others were across the room from one another. The room was really basic with everything practically made of wood, though the extra room was specially decorated for his own kids.

Krillin checked over the first pair. There his first born little girl Marron and first boy Castan. The two were covered in their blankets, sleeping peacefully. Castan's black hair looked rather smooth, growing to his side a little bit, having just reached the top of his ears. Marron's blonde hair wasn't just as long, though very well noticeable. Out of all four of his kids, Marron and Castan both happened to be the calmest of the bunch.

Not wanting to bother them, Krillin left the two be and headed over to the other cribs where Spinel, who had the same color hair as his sister Marron, was. Sapphire had black hair like her brother, though, like Marron, her was nowhere just as long. Unlike their other siblings, Spinel and Sapphire both had their eyes open.

"You guys been awake?" The two just stared at their father with a blank expression. He reached his hands into their cribs, grabbing for their soft heads. Spinel and Sapphire both didn't seem to show any complaints at first, which pleased their dad. "Hey..." he smiled. "You guys aren't reacting, for the first time, huh?" He rubbed their soft heads, massaging them with care. "You must like that, huh?"

Spinel and Sapphire grabbed for Krillin's hand and held on tight. As tight as their squeezing was, it didn't harm their father in the slightest. "For the first time, they're acting like Marron and Castan. Heh."

The babies both giggled, their eyes sparkling for a moment. Krillin's eyes widened in a bit of fear and caution. When his children giggled, that meant that something was usually up. Before he could make any reaction, both son and daughter forced their father's hand to their mouths and bit him as hard as they could.

"OHHHHHWHWHWHWHWWWWW!"

* * *

Ox and Videl have both been remaining consistent with their own training. When Ox trained on his own one day, Videl would come the next and remind him that she needed to train with him. When the kid wasn't studying, he could barely catch a break. The only time he did have some fun was when Videl would come along after a session and hang out with Ox and Chi-Chi. The little girl quickly took a liking to his mom and vice versa.

Ox and Videl were both seated on their couch in the living room, watching an action film with popcorn and all the good snacks, letting time fly. Chi-Chi didn't mind this at all, which was abnormal. Usually, she'd send her son upstairs to study, but it seemed like the realization of having another kid soon calmed her down a bit. Besides, she didn't have to cook either, so it was a win-win for her.

"Oh, so that's when the parties started, huh?" Chi-Chi was on the phone, also near a calendar with a marker in hand. She was speaking with Bulma about the location of the wedding that Krillin and Lazuli were to be having. The woman chuckled. "Well, it's going fine. I really didn't expect to have another kid so soon, but life can be weird sometimes." Chi-Chi looked over to Ox, who was fixated on the movie with Videl. "Yeah, they've both been doing very fine. I don't want my little boy to get complacent, though." She listened a bit more, hearing what Bulma had to say. "Ahuh, ahuh! Yeah..."

A few moments later, she hung up the phone and looked over to the kids with their eyes glued to the television screen. "Alright, children. We're going in the city!"

Ox immediately turned around, his chin resting on the end of the sofa. If the boy truly didn't have to, he would absolutely prefer to stick around to finish watching the movie. "What for?" He shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth

"Bulma just told me about her friend's wedding that's coming up a while from now. It's best we go clothes shopping so we can be ready for the special day."

Ox looked over to Videl. "Do you want to go clothes shopping, too?"

Videl didn't see why not. Going into the city for a bit with Ox and Chi-Chi seemed like a bit of fun anyhow. "Sure!"

"Okay." Chi-Chi looked over her clothes, trying to figure out whether or not the clothes she had on were just right for her. Thinking about it for a few moments, she simply nodded her head. She had on the same trademark clothing she always wore, trying to remain well kept, though it was definitely feeling a bit tighter than usual all of a sudden. She'd buy some bigger sizes while they went shopping. "Sure, let's go right now!"

"Shotgun!" Videl hopped over the sofa, dashing out the door before anyone else even took one simple step.

Chi-Chi looked back to Ox and held in a laugh. She headed out the door as well, making way to the parked car just outside the big house. Videl was already on the passenger side of the car, ready to head out into the city.

"You know when we come back home, you're going to have to study, okay?"

"Yeah," Ox said, a little disappointed. The kid was expecting to have the rest of the day free, though he knew that it wouldn't be right. His mother had been much more lenient on him recently and he knew better than to take advantage of that.

"It's nice for the both of you to have some fun," Chi-Chi said, placing her hands on her son's shoulders. "But don't forget that there are priorities, son."

"Yeah, you're right," Ox immediately recalled the small talk that his father had with him the very night they arrived back on earth from Planet Namek. There he mentioned how he must not get complacent when it came to training because he had to stay strong, period. He thought of that because it most certainly applied to his studies as well. He was beginning to slack. "I'll do it."

"Good." She kissed him on the cheek and headed off to the car.

"Mom!" Ox bellowed, his red flushed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Videl looking straight at him through the glass window of the car. No doubt she witnessed his giving him a little peck on the face. "Don't do that..."

Chi-Chi laughed as she got in the car. "Come on, let's go."

Ox huffed and did as told, getting in the back seat of the car. Just moments after the engine sounded off, they shot off into the sky.

* * *

Out in the city, one of the better fighters of the world had rented out a Marriott for the entire week, all seven days. It was one of the best ones in East City. He had gotten the best room, with a king-sized bed with gold silky material he used to cover himself up when he needed to sleep.

He had special room service and anything else he needed. Not to mention, he just saved an entire planet from the worst threat known to the universe. With everything a man could have wanted and achieved on his belt, he was still grumpy about something.

"How can she just not talk to me still? I mean, I thought she said we were still friends?!" Yamcha lied on his bed, looking up at the black and white color patterned ceiling.

On the sofa in the room was Puar, Yamcha's best friend. He was having a chill time watching television, though Yamcha just had to kill the mood, bringing up Bulma all of a sudden. This was something he had been doing ever since he got back home and Puar had no idea why he was doing it. "Oh, come on, Yamcha! I thought you were over her!"

The scarred martial artist sighed. As much as he tried to convince himself that he was, he knew that he very well wasn't. "Man, I thought I was, too, Puar." He rolled from his bed, his feet set on the carpet floor. "It just didn't hit me until recently. I mean, I still have feelings for her, ya'know?" Puar rolled his eyes, though out of respect for his friend, he continued to listen to Yamcha vent. "When I was at the party, she could have said hey to me! I said aloud 'oh, I could use a bottle of wine, right now!' Bulma was there, too! She could have offered me a glass, but she talked to an assistant and had her give me some. That's weird, right? Like, she said we were still friends!"

"Yamcha!" Puar yelled, his squeaky voice getting loud. Yamcha shut up, listening to Puar, who seemed a bit agitated. The cat crossed his arms and spoke, a frown on his face. "How many times did I tell you not to go to this party or that one with a group of girls, knowing you'd cheat on Bulma?"

Yamcha scratched his head, truly having no general idea. The man had his eyes rolled off to the side, having to really think about it. "I don't re-"

"Exactly!" Puar interrupted. "I told you so many times that you can't even remember. It's your fault that Bulma left you because she found out you were cheating on her. The least you could do was tell her you wanted to see other people and split. You can't have your cake and eat it, too you know!?"

It was truly unwanted for Puar to have an outburst, nonetheless a mini-outburst, something he was having at this exact moment. He was such a fragile little guy that little episodes like there were truly rare. "I remember back then when you used to be afraid of being near a pretty girl, Yamcha! Ever since you got with Bulma, you decided to over go your boundaries and do stuff you weren't supposed to do! Now you're here whining to me about not being with Bulma! If you were truly sorry you would go over to her and apologize! Make it sincere, too!"

He was left absolutely speechless. All of what Puar just had told him was one hundred percent true. He had no words to retaliate with because there was nothing more to add. All of what Puar said was what needed to be said and that. Yamcha frowned a bit, not only out of disappointment for himself, yet out of embarrassment as well.

"I guess I should go over to Bulma's and speak my mind then huh? My real mind."

"I'll be waiting." Puar looked back over to the television, watching a show about ninja cats.

Yamcha put on a long sleeve black shirt and some black jeans. "I'll be on my way, Puar. I won't be too long, I promise."

"Hn!"

The streets, like any normal day, was very busy. Yamcha was on the sidewalk now, having left the Marriott. He looked passed all the cars that flew by, his eyes fixated on the newly opened museum. He himself had heard about how Krillin and Lazuli getting married there in about half a year from now. Instead of Krillin and Lazuli, he pictured himself and Bulma in their place. "If I want to make a fantasy reality...then I have to take the first big jump!"

* * *

"You shouldn't be so hasty, Kakarot!"

He, Dedana, and Vino all traveled together. Ever since he realized that they would be attacking Planet earth, he dashed off there. He truly didn't care anything at all about Planet Namek as he had nothing to do with that world. On the other hand, earth was where Ox and Chi-Chi lived, the only two people he cared about.

Under any dire circumstances, Kakarot usually kept his cool, but these past few days, he seemed to be a bit more jumbled, far more than usual. He knew that Ox was capable of taking care of himself, as well as many other people, but he didn't know why he was so heated.

"You shouldn't open your mouth unless spoken to!" Kakarot shot back to Dedana, who sealed her mouth the moment her superior barked at her.

Vino approached Kakarot, seeing he seemed to be somewhat out of the ordinary. He was breathing heavier than usual and he got a minor case of the sweats. His body temperature was higher than normal, though he tried his best to look past it. He pressed some buttons, shifting the gear that his ship was going in.

"You must rest," Vino advised Kakarot.

"How long until we reach earth?" He ignored Vino's concerns and had his mind focused on one thing and one thing only. His mind was racing. He tried to keep his cool, but he couldn't. He had a lack of knowledge of whatever the hell was going on with him, though he tried to pay no attention to it. The more he did, though, the more agitated he began to become.

"Just less than half an hour," Vino told Kakarot. "In the meantime, you have to re-"

"I don't need any god damn rest!" Kakarot barked. "Get out of my face and let me know when we're near earth. If it's not anything pertaining to it, you can keep your mouth shut, too..."

Vino had no words for Kakarot's behavior, nor did he feel the need to respond. He didn't want to intensify Kakarot's rankled mood, so he decided it was best to not speak to him. He looked over to Dedana, who had an extreme look of worry plastered on her face.

"What's wrong with him?" Dedana whispered, just low enough for her and Vino to hear.

Vino had no answers at all and simply shrugged. He was just as worried about Kakarot as Dedana was, though unfortunately, neither of them had any idea of what was wrong with him. "Whatever it is, he must be worried about his family. I mean, he has a wife and kid, both that are going to be caught up in danger in just a moment's notice. That could be what's getting to him."

Dedana knew that whatever was up with Kakarot, what Vino said simply only had to be a portion of that problem, though but she didn't say anything more. She recalled when she and Kakarot arrived on earth for the first time. The entire planet had been attacked and Kakarot never looked that worried before. He went in and handled business and came back, all in a rather nonchalant manner. Here, he was totally different, on edge over the littlest things. Add to the fact that she's completely aware that Kakarot's son, as well as many other expert fighters on earth, could handle their own, so what was to truly fret over? Whatever was going on with Kakarot, it couldn't have been anything going on in the outside world that irked him. Truly, it must have been something internal.

'Calm yourself, Kakarot...' The Saiyan tried to speak to himself in his head. He made an attempt to control his breathing, though he only found himself breathing even harder than normal. 'Calm it!' The Saiyan tightened his entire body. 'We're almost there...' He himself didn't know what was going on with him, nor did he care. He just worried about earth and that was it.

* * *

"This was a good meal." Tien and Chaotzu ate a couple bowls of rice with some dim sum and sushi on the side. They didn't need the most extravagant meal to satisfy themselves. Whatever Launch cooked, she made the best of it.

"I'm stuffed," Chaotzu said, patting his stomach.

Launch at the current moment had blue hair and had the look of a rather harmless person. Her smile showed that she was proud that Chaotzu and Tien liked the food she cooked. She just got finished eating her own meal, always making sure to feed herself last.

Tien got up and stacked all the bowls, getting them from Chaotzu and Launch. Once he received all the bowls, he placed them in the sink. As much as he would love to simply relax and rest, he knew he had work to do. "You ready to go back out and finish up, Chaotzu?"

"Yeah, let's get it over with..."

Launch looked up at the ceiling with a totally blank stare on her face. Chaotzu looked over to Launch. "Hey." A simple word didn't happen to catch her attention so he placed his hand in front of her face and started to wave back and forth. "Hello...earth to Launch..."

Launch's face began to scrunch up a bit, turning into a rather drowsy look. The woman backed her head up with her mouth wide. "A...A...ACHOOO!" As soon as she sneezed, her blue hair turned blonde and she was back to her rather unruly self again.

Tien was drinking a cup of water, expecting it to happen sooner or later. "You good?" he took another sip.

Launch rubbed her nose and wobbled her head for a bit, her nose sort of itch. The woman stood up and headed over to her room. "I'll be out in just a bit."

Chaotzu turned to his friend, who just drank his glass of water. "Hey, Tien. I have a question."

"Ask away."

"How come you've never bothered to ask Kakarot for a rematch yet? I think you're a lot stronger than him right now and would be able to beat him!"

Tien sat down his glass of water. He truly hadn't thought about it. "Heh. That never came to mind, Chaotzu. After the arrival of Piccolo, I never thought much about it, entirely. It was like I completely had all of it passed me."

"It's long overdue, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Tien said. He remembered it was over a decade ago when he used to hold a grudge against Kakarot. He himself was quite envious of how much of a quick grower Kakarot was and didn't like the fact he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, especially under the teachings of Tsuru-sennin. Back then he would never allow himself to admit such a thing, him nor his pride for that matter. Now, thinking back on with a much clearer head, he could admit so. "While I'm not truly concerned over it, you're right, Chaotzu. That's on my bucket list, for sure. Eventually, Kakarot and I will fight to show ourselves just who is the stronger and more potential fighter."

"It won't end as it did last time, will it?" Chaotzu asked.

Tien grinned. After all this time, he had many new tricks up his sleeve. Kakarot was a formidable foe, indeed. He heard and witnessed a lot of things he had done and knew he wasn't an opponent to underestimate. Not to mention, he was an alien coming from a race of warriors bred for fighting. That wasn't something to just let pass over his head either. But by the same token, Tien had learned a lot over the years and now holds many new advantages under his belt. If he was to face Kakarot now, he could imagine himself coming out the victor.

Out came Launch in her regular green tank top and khaki shorts. Aside of her, the woman had a suitcase, which more than likely had to be full of her own possessions. "I'll say, it's been well staying here for a while."

"You're leaving?" Chaotzu asked. It was made blatant that he genuinely enjoyed Launch's company, regardless of if she was moody or in good spirits. He didn't want her to go. Even if she did, not so soon.

"Afraid so, little guy."

Her and Tien met eyes. Said three-eyed man didn't even show any emotion at all, simply sipping on his water. "It was a pleasure to have you here, Launch. You can feel free to pass by whenever you want."

The blonde was hoping for an entirely different response, but she sure didn't expect anything else from Tien. In the time of knowing him, she got his character well. At first, she thought of the possibility of being with him, though he showed no interest at all. For her, there was truly no reason to stay. "It was fun catching up with you guys. I'll catch you later." She winked at Chaotzu and carried her suit-case out as she exited the house.

Chaotzu bowed his head down, a bit downcast. He was very fond of the female.

Launch closed the door behind her and looked ahead. Tien and Chaotzu had all their acres of land which they tended to quite often. Looking over the cows in the field and the barn, she scoffed. Not in a million years could she see herself working so hard. This type of life was mundane and not something that elicited excitement. Launch lived for the joy of life and what she did previously was just that. Hell, that's exactly how she ended up here with Tien and Chaotzu, waiting until heat from the cops was off her back.

The bright shine of the sun slowly started to fade away, being overshadowed by some mysterious figure. "What the hell? I know it's not dark already." Checking her watch, the time showed itself to be 12:16. "Eh?" Looking up, Launch laid her eyes on a large, circular ship making way through the farm over by one of the cities. Never before had she laid eyes on such a thing before. "W-What the hell is that thing!"

Tien and Chaotzu heard Launch from outside and came as soon as they could. Both were by her side in no time, looking ahead, both wondering if something was going wrong with the farm. "What's the matter?" Tien asked.

"Look!" Launch pointed above, directing their eyes to this Unidentified Flying Object.

"What's that?" Chaotzu asked, thinking aloud.

Tien didn't give an immediate answer as he himself didn't even know. What he did was search for any powers. Upon doing so, he got a hold of many of them. "There are hundreds of people on that ship...and none of them are good..."

* * *

At Capsule Corp, Bulma was talking to an assistant, speaking on an upcoming project. The purple-haired woman just stood, listening carefully. "Hm...ahuh, ahuh." Since her father had announced his retirement for sure, she was the one at head for everything Capsule Corp. She had a lot of responsibility to take over, but she didn't mind it one bit.

DING DONG!

Both Bulma and her assistant looked over to the door, which had rung. "Hold on, I'll be right with you." She headed over to the door, rolling her eyes. "I thought I told everyone that I was gonna be busy after 12..." with an aggravated huff, she opened the door quickly.

There was Yamcha, rubbing his neck with a nervous smile, laughing in an eccentric manner. "Hey, Bulma."

'Everyone except Yamcha...' Yamcha was the last person she hoped to see, but the woman figured that she had to tolerate him if she truly wanted him to go away. "How may I help you, Yamcha?" she asked nicely, hiding any suppressed animosity she had towards her ex-boyfriend.

"Hey, Bulma. I know things may seem a little weird right now, but we need to talk."

"About...?" Bulma asked. "If you need anything from Capsule Corp, you can make an order over the phone, Yamcha. You know the number, right? If not, then you should because you've been here a lot!"

"Yeah, but it's not about that!" Yamcha said.

Bulma didn't need anything else to be said for her to even get a simple notion of what Yamcha was referring to. "Look, it's over, okay? What's done is done, why can't you look past that?"

"I know what you mean, bu-"

"But nothing." Bulma slammed the door in Yamcha's face and locked it with great haste. The woman turned around, her back pressed up against the door with her eyes sealed shut. She already had a lot on her plate for the day, and there just wasn't any room for Yamcha right now.

"Are you okay?"

Bulma immediately got back into business mode and made her way back over to the assistant. "Yes, now what were you talking about?"

Yamcha wanted to knock on the door this time, though he left his fist hanging with his head down in shame. The man sighed pathetically and turned around, placing his back against the door. "Dammit...! Why did I have to make such a stupid mistake!" He slapped his hands into his face. "Why can't I just take it all back." Deciding to give up, Yamcha removed his hands and started to walk away back to the sidewalk. Much to his surprise, a big shadow started to coat everything within the entire city. Looking up, he eyed the same mysterious figure that caught many people's attention as well. "What the..."

* * *

"Man, we're going to be looking so good at the party!" Oolong came out the store with Lazuli and Roshi with the cheekiest grin. They all had just finished shopping for clothes and got everything they needed for the wedding party that was coming up in six months. All of them carried bags filled with nothing but clothes. Had just a couple people came, there wouldn't have been enough hands for all the materials to be moved.

They were all brushing past people on the sidewalk to their car, which was parked very far away from where they were. "As soon as I get back home, I'm taking a rest."

"Really?" Oolong asked. "Don't tell me you're tired! It's not even the afternoon yet."

"All this shopping is not something I'm used to."

"Eh?" Oolong's ears flapped a bit in confusion. "I thought all girls liked shopping!"

"Do I look like some girl to you?" Lazuli asked in a threatening tone.

"O-Of course not!" Oolong replied, his voice shaky.

"Hey, stop..."

"Huh?" Lazuli did as told and looked behind her, eyeing Roshi.

The old man looked over his shoulders, feeling an ominous energy behind him. "Do you feel that?"

Lazuli closed her eyes, checking out for some life forces. Once she felt the baleful energy signals that Roshi felt, her eyes shot open. The blonde handed all the bags over to Oolong. "You go bring these to the car and drive to Kame house immediately!"

"W-What?" Oolong looked back and forth to Roshi and Lazuli. He could tell by the serious expressions on their faces that something was going on. "What's the matter?"

"Just do as you're told," Roshi warned the pig. He hopped from the ground and landed atop a building. The old man hopped from rooftop to rooftop in order to near the power signals that he was feeling just moments earlier.

Lazuli followed by shooting off into the sky, zooming over the buildings that Roshi hopped from. "Who do you think it is this time?"

"I don't know," he said. "Whatever it is, it's not good."

"I know..."

Sorbet had just landed the ship at the very end of the city, garnering the attention of multiple Samaritans. This wasn't the first time something like this had transpired, the first being something truly ghastly. People were on edge, wondering if it'd be just as bad.

Well over a thousand soldiers were all hovering in the sky above the city, Tagoma, Sorbet, and Shisami, on the road. The short blue imp took one little look around the city, observing the infrastructure of the place, as well as getting a little sample of their technology. "Hn! This planet is far behind, indeed."

Tagoma clicked his scouter, scanning over the powers of the countless humans looking at them.

"They're like those other guys that came!" one of the people said.

"During the alien invasion!?"

"Yeah!" a female screamed. A handful of the people within North City had witnessed this before, and they weren't met with a rather friendly greeting.

"What do you want me to tell the men to do?" Shisami asked, waiting for Sorbet to order him.

"Kill every human here," Sorbet said. "We're going to evacuate this planet of its living inhabitants so we don't come into any roadblocks while we look for the Dragon Balls."

"You heard the man!" Shisami yelled. "Do what you're ordered!"

The soldiers all yelled out in an uproar simultaneously, not ashamed to show their excitement for committing genocide on an alien race.

"I'd think twice if I were any of you fools!"

Sorbet and the others looked onto an unfamiliar figure, who stood atop a building. A green male wearing a turban and a white cloak with a purple Gi. He stood there with a hardened face, having the attention of the intruding soldiers as well as the bewildered earthlings down below on the roads.

"Hey!" one of the people yelled, pointing at the man. "That's Majunior! He's the guy that saved that little girl and her dad not too long ago!"

"Hey, you're right!" one of the people added. "Majunior! He's come to save us!"

Tagoma laughed. "And you must call yourself earth's protector." He clicked his scouter, scanning over the power-level this person had. "Ah...15,000. Heh. I see why you must be earth's guardian. Your power rivals that of some of our top men!"

Piccolo scoffed. Yet again he was facing off with some amateurs that knew not how to detect hidden powers as they relied on stupid devices. By this alone he knew he could take care of every one of the soldiers no sweat"I'll tell you and I'll tell you once. Each of you turn around and head back to wherever you came from."

PIPIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"Someone's coming!" a soldier called out.

"No!" someone else yelled. "More than one person!"

Piccolo's head shifted to the right. He could feel multiple power-levels headed his way before any of the scouters managed to pick them up. From afar he caught eye of Roshi, Lazuli, Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu making way to where he was.

"600...1,200...1,800...2,400...2,800..."

"Him and a group of weaklings!" Shisami yelled. The man chuckled at how weak all of these newcomers were. "Everyone do as Sir Sorbet ordered and get rid of these pests!"

"RAHHHHH!" All of the men attacked at once.

Piccolo, Roshi, Lazuli, Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu all had stacks of dozens of people coming right for them. These people were weaker by a landslide, sure, but the soldiers had numbers, something they all lacked.

* * *

In a far away city, Chi-Chi, Ox, and Videl were all actually having a good time. They all finished shopping and were each eating ice-cream as they headed to the car.

"That was fun!" Videl said. "I don't think we should train right after we eat, though."

"Haha, me neither." Ox licked his strawberry ice cream. Videl's was vanilla, though it had chocolate cookies inside hers. The sun was rather hot and melting it away faster than normal, so Ox and Videl had to hurry up.

"Oww..." Ox winced. The boy froze for a moment, his eyes closed as tight as possible.

Chi-Chi and Videl looked at him, confused as to what could have been transpiring with the boy. "What's the matter?" Videl asked.

"B-brain freeze," Ox responded, breathing calmly. "It hit me."

"Hahahahaha!"

Chi-Chi sighed. "And I thought it was something worse." They each continued to make way towards the car that they had parked.

"Hey..." Videl stopped.

Not speaking loud enough, Ox walked forward still, heading toward the car. The kid licked away at his ice-cream, it taking a while for him to notice that he was ahead of his mother and friend.

"What's the matter?" Chi-Chi asked, voice full of concern.

"Do you feel that, Ox?!"

"Huh?" Ox turned around, seeing that Videl was looking directly at him.

"I feel something coming right for us!" Videl wasn't an expert when it came to sensing life forces, but she knew she felt something making way towards them, and fast!

Ox squinted his eyes a bit and decided to search out for energy nearing him. Chi-Chi was left out of the loop, not having a speck of knowledge as to being capable of sensing out for the energy of another person. Ox, upon feeling the familiar energy, eye's shot open. "It's dad and Dedana!"

"Your dad?" Videl asked. "Are you sure?" The girl couldn't pinpoint it, but the presence she felt was quite dark.

"Kakarot?"

Ox looked into the skies, seeing three black figures making way right for them. All of them kept looking, just waiting for confirmation. All Ox had to see was that same old abnormal hairstyle. Ox couldn't believe that his father was actually here today! It just made things a lot better.

Kakarot, Dedana, and Vino all came landing softly right near them. The leader of the three looked a bit worn out, sweating hard as a matter of fact. "I've found you."

"Dad!" Ox ran up to his dad, out of pure excitement. But seeing this foreign look on his face frightened him for a moment, so he stopped dead in his tracks. "Dad?"

Kakarot was breathing heavily, his body feeling much hotter than it was just half an hour ago. "You know that this planet is being under attack, right?"

"Under attack?" Videl asked. "Wait, what?"

"Kakarot," Chi-Chi said, nearing her husband. "What's the matter?" She didn't care for anything she said, though worried more about his current condition, which didn't look all too well. She noticed he was sweating profusely and touched his moist, hot reddened cheeks. "Kakarot...you're burning up!"

"We have no time for this," Kakarot removed himself from Chi-Chi. "Look, son...there's a group of men that decided to go against me, people that only ally with Freeza. They're aware of the Dragon Balls and have come here to take them. They've already sent people to Namek, though I've managed to get some of my own soldiers to handle them. We need to tend to the intruders here."

"Those are the people I could feel earlier!" Videl yelled out.

"Look!" Vino pointed out. The dark-skinned male swiftly maneuvered his way before Kakarot and smacked away a ball of energy, re-directing the attack into the air.

"What the?" Kakarot looked up, seeing a couple of people. All of them had on the attire that belonged to Freeza's army, so it was obvious whom they were working for.

"Look, it's Kakarot!" one of the members said. "Hahaha! The ruler's come all the way back home just to protect this mud-ball. How pathetic."

Kakarot grinned. "I was hoping to be able to come with some fun today." He patted his son on the back. "You go handle the other intruders, I'll be sure to deal with the people here."

"Alright!" Ox took off in the sky, Videl following right after him.

"Dedana, bring my wife home!"

"I'm not leaving!" Chi-Chi protested.

He looked back over to Dedana, who was yet to make a move. "That wasn't a question."

"Y-Yes, sir." Dedana grabbed Chi-Chi by the arm and took the woman by force, dashing through the sky.

Vino got on guard, ready to face the four soldiers. "Alright, just you and I taking them?"

Kakarot shook his head and cracked his knuckles. "No. You go after my son."

One of the soldiers had their hands aimed for Dedana and Chi-Chi. "As if we'd let a couple of weaklings escape." The man didn't get a chance to kill them off as he was hit by an energy attack coming from Kakarot. The man wasn't down for the count, but he was injured for sure. All of his comrades surrounding him each had their faces shielded from all the smoke. Civilians in the area all ran away, screaming for their lives.

Kakarot came from behind the man who tried to attack his family and smashed both of his fists atop the man's pear-shaped head, smashing his scouter into pieces off impact. Feeling that Kakarot had everything under control, Vino shot off into the sky. As that one fell down to his death, crashing into a parked car, the other three all looked at Kakarot with a look of worry on their faces.

"TCHA!" One of them fired away an energy attack, aimed especially for the Saiyan. The other two behind did as well, hoping they'd manage to strike him by surprise. Once the attacks collided, a heap of smoke appeared subsequent to the explosion, which prevented them from keeping an eye on him. The soldier that initiated the attack looked around. Unlike true elite fighters, he was incapable of sensing energy levels. "W-where did he go?"

"He can't hide forever!" one of the men yelled.

"You're right..." Kakarot faded into sight behind the last man that spoke and wrapped one arm around his throat and kept the chokehold with his right arm, squeezing the man's head.

"KKkkkkkk...ghrak..." he gasped for air, trying his best to stay alive. With every second that passed by, the more he found himself unable to get out of the hold. He started to panic, desperate just to stay alive. The more he began to panic, the quicker he was shortening his own capacity for air.

None of the other members were even aware that Kakarot had one of their comrades in a choke due to the stubborn smoke that didn't just want to go away. "Where'd that simian go!?"

PIPIPIPIPI

His scouter directed him to look ahead, which was right through the smoke screen. There he saw a silhouette, which had to be the monkey Saiyan without any doubt. "Hehehehe...there you are. Die, piece of trash!" Yet again, he tried to blast the Saiyan with a wave of ki from his left hand, hoping to be successful this time. His attack hit the man dead on and this time he knew he was right on target.

"UGH!"

"ehehehe." He looked as the individual fell to his death, certain it had to be Kakarot. That cocky grin changed immediately once he realized that he unintentionally struck an inferior partner of his. "Ah...?" his entire body was scorched as he fell down into the road, crashing into one of the cars that came flying in the streets. The car swerved to the side upon impact and crashed into a building on the side, alarming countless individuals, some of whom were hit by accident. "Ah, shit..."

Looking back ahead, the smoke was finally beginning to go away. There Kakarot hovered in the sky, a smug smile on his face. "Heheehehe..." through his laughter, the Saiyan was breathing heavily. The action made his body temperature rise even more, though he didn't mind it. He loved the joy of battle regardless of his condition.

"This one's quick-witted...he's no amateur." Seeing how much of a smart fighter Kakarot was, he now realized that it would be best to approach things a bit more carefully, otherwise he'd end up like his dead comrades. "We have to stay on our toes."

"As if! Look at him! He can barely catch his breath! Come on!" The two soldiers came at Kakarot, giving out battle cries. There was no way he was going to lose to some Saiyan that looked like he was on the verge of passing out. If anything, their best shot was to take advantage and this wasn't an opportunity he was going to simply pass up.

The Saiyan blocked a punch from one of them and pushed him away with a simple shove to the shoulder. He cocked his fist back to attack the other, though he didn't catch the knee coming to his face. Kakarot tried to move out of the way, though he was got good with a hard one to the cheek, knocking off his scouter even.

The other soldier was behind Kakarot and caught the Saiyan, wrapping his own arms under the Saiyan's armpits, getting him in a hold. The man took this as a clean shot and gut-checked Kakarot, eliciting saliva from his mouth. That one simple punch had him feeling like he just got the air knocked out of him. The Saiyan was rendered many more punches to the face, being treated as a simple punching bag.

"Hahahaha, how do you like that?" He gave the Saiyan a couple of more combos, striking him from left, right, up, down, wherever way he felt like it. Growing a bit tiresome, he cocked his fist back, preparing to give his strongest strike yet. "And you think you had the potential to rule over us!?"

The soldier behind let go and watched Kakarot get punched in the face, being sent sliding through the roads and crashing into the sidewalk. Kakarot growled though he got back up. He felt extremely hot. The Saiyan, despite his worsened state, didn't catch a break as he had to dodge an incoming energy attack as soon as he got back up on his two feet.

The building behind him was destroyed, as were some of the people incidentally caught up in it. The bruised Saiyan rushed in for one of them and elbowed the man right in the face. He swiftly turned around and kicked the other man, sending them both flying. He rushed in for one and grabbed him by the pant leg and tossed him into his comrade, having them both crash into one another.

The man touched down on his foot and aimed his hands for the both of them. With no mercy, he fired away a wave of purple ki. A smile came across his face once he heard their screams prior to their inevitable death, being pulverized by the heat of his attack.

Once they were done with, Kakarot stood there, taking deeper and heavier breaths. He stood there, now practically wheezing for air. Countless people in fear of their lives saw the popular Kakarot in the middle of the road with a torn cloak over his armor, looking like he was about to have a heart attack. The Saiyan then winced in pain, falling over to his knee. "Gragh...!"

His eyes were looking at the ground, but he felt like his sight was totally blank. He knew not to trust his vision as it was getting blurry and unsteady. The Saiyan shook his head, trying to get his vision clear. Even though he did so, that tight knot in his chest didn't go away. He felt like one hundred thousand needles were stabbing at it constantly, which prevented him from getting oxygen.

His eyes began to get heavy and he could feel the muscles in his body going weak, no longer allowing him to stand up on his knee. He tried his best to fight it, but he had absolutely no power. It wasn't long until the Saiyan collapsed over on his face. Once the bridge of his nose smashed against the sidewalk, he fell out of consciousness.

Everyone on the sidewalk all gasped at the sight. A good majority of the people witnessed Kakarot do away with the evil intruders, only to fall as if he himself was dead. Many of the people were frozen and stood there, not knowing what to do.

If capable, Kakarot would try to do something, though he simply couldn't. His body was motionless and he had given in. The Saiyan wasn't dead, but if not tended to...he would be.


	52. An Intergalactic Solution

Review: _"The fight Kakarot had with the soldiers is almost exactly equal to the fight Bardock had with the men that attacked Bardock's crew in The Special. This had to be done purposely."_ **Yes, it was done on purpose. Glad you caught it by the way. I was hoping someone would mention it, lol.**

* * *

"And it turns out that one of the earth's richest people, only behind Capsule Corporation and King Furry himself, has contracted some type of disease. It has been said that Kakarot been in and out for a couple of days now, barely capable to respond to those alongside him! There's no telling if he'd be capable of coming out of this or not!" Just outside one of the hospitals in West City, there were hundreds of people circled around it, many of them being news reporters and others just simple citizens. From the very few people that recognized Kakarot and caught sight of him passed out on the cement just subsequent to taking care of new threats of earth, he had been recorded there. The news spread out throughout multiple regions of the planet like wildfire. He was a well-known idol for many as a personal businessman and to see him fall would be one of the major mishaps of that current generation.

From one of the top stories of the hospitals, all of the people outside were being watched through a window. Ox had his knees on a chair, arms resting on it as well, just gazing at these people. While he was seeing many things, at that very moment, his mind was blank. He tried his best to ignore the suppressed sounds of torment coming from his very own father as well as the heart monitor, which would speed up and slow down from time to time.

Chi-Chi was right by Kakarot's side, holding his hand tightly. She never saw her husband in so much pain, especially when he wasn't fighting. Dedana was at a loss as well, not knowing quite what to do. Vino and Duvin both equally remained silent, doing their best to tone out the painful yelps of agony coming from their boss.

Kakarot remained in the room, clutching his chest. All the clothes he had on had been removed and he only remained in his trousers. The Saiyan felt a bit of coolness, though his body went against him and rose in temperature once more. Little stings would attack his heart every moment he'd try to inhale. He took sips of breath, though that didn't make the pain any less effective. His eyes were squinted and he yelled out.

Atop the roof of the hospital stood both Piccolo and Videl. The Namekian had his arms crossed, a look of disappointment plastered on his face as he looked at all the residents below. It didn't pain him to have to hear Kakarot in the agony he was in, though he was only pissed that his chances of being able to fight him were draining by the second.

Videl could only think of how both Ox and Chi-Chi were feeling at the current moment. She looked at her former teacher, wondering what he thought about all this. "Do you think he's going to be okay?"

Piccolo didn't respond immediately after the question was asked. Neither he knew exactly how things would turn out. As soon as he and the others got finished taking care of the minor threat that was Freeza's soldiers, he was the one to find Kakarot in the state that he was in. When the subject pertained to Kakarot's issues and his chances of survival, he was in the same boat as everyone else: unsure. "From what I know, we just have to wait and see what the doctors say."

Chi-Chi held her husband's hand tightly and wiped the sweat from his face, truly concerned about his well-being. She knew he wasn't well, but that didn't sway away her concerns. "Kakarot...say something, please..."

"Kkkkk...!" He opened his mouth, doing his best to form words. "Gah!" his head shook from side to side quickly. He snatched his hand away from Chi-Chi's grip and bit his lip. He wanted the pain to just leave, though he had no other choice but to endure it. He knew not what to do, though he only wished he could have something to assuage his throes.

Nearly everyone who had a t.v. at home were watching the same exact news regarding the very person who was in the hospital at the moment. This was what made top headlines and even the people who didn't know about Kakarot were watching it as well. For someone so big globally to have this transpiring to him wasn't something that would just pass under the bridge without at least some coverage.

* * *

Everyone at Kame House watched what was going on and kept their eyes and ears open for any upcoming events.

Roshi had his chin pressed against the tip of his cane, his eyes looking through his shade onto the television, listening to updates on Kakarot's health. "It's been a couple of days now and we've yet to hear anything good."

"How did this even happen to him?" Krillin asked. "I mean, for such a strong guy, how could an unknown disease just get to him like this?"

"Beats me," Tien said. It was unlikely for someone like Tien and Chaotzu to be at the Kame house with the others, but this was about the one person he has had some type of rival with when he was kids. Just recently his friend brought up the topic about him and Kakarot going at it once more to decide it all. And now to see this happening, Tien needed to keep updated if things were going to truly be fine or not.

"Maybe it's karma," Yamcha said. "This guy has done some bad things in the past, ya know? Maybe his dues for killing people like Son Gohan have finally come back to catch up to him."

"After all these years you still haven't gotten past that?" Oolong asked. "We've gotten to see Gohan ourselves with Baba, you know. The old man says he has no grudges against Kakarot and he only hopes the best for him. Why can't you let it go?"

"Yeah," Puar jumped in. "Why can't you?"

"He's saved the world a couple times," Lazuli told Yamcha. "The least you can do is respect that."

Yamcha huffed and crossed his arms. He didn't understand why he held some type of grudge with Kakarot. Everyone else has seemed to be able to move on besides him. Rarely would he let his feelings regarding this topic resurface. Personally, Yamcha could only chalk it up to the fact that he had so much respect for Son Gohan and he shouldn't have gone out in the manner he did, being eaten by some monstrous ape. But he knew it was deeper than that.

"Bulma's on her way to help him right now," Turtle said. "They might be able to find out what's wrong with Kakarot. She and her father are trying to help out the people there."

"That's good," Roshi spoke out. "Just maybe it's about time we get some good news. Because so far, we haven't gotten any..."

* * *

Still, Kakarot pressed his lips at the excruciating pain he was being sent through. "Come on, Kakarot...stay with us..."

The tension in the room was too high for anyone to try and bring up a topic disregarding the present scenario. Ox was in a mind of his own, as was Vino and Duvin, who were both on edge. The two wanted to leave, but they knew it'd be morally better to stick around and support. Even so, seeing Kakarot like this was highly displeasing and downright uncomfortable.

'I can't do anything in order to remotely make him feel better,' Dedana thought to himself. The woman lowered her head, shaking it shamefully. As a servant, it was her duty in order to make sure Kakarot was in his best moments. And being so powerless at a time like this showed her just how useless she truly was.

Everyone's head turned to the entrance of their room after hearing multiple footsteps promptly making way towards their direction. Through the doors came Bulma, her father, and an old man. All three were highly intellectual individuals, and the problem was just big enough for all of them to come together in order to figure out some problem.

The old doctor had a couple papers in hand, quickly reading through him after fixing his glasses to get a proper viewing of the information he had been provided prior to coming back into this room. "It turns out that Sir Kakarot has had a lingering virus within his heart. When it hits him, it manages to raise his body temperature and expand his muscles to the point of where he can barely move them."

"What's the cause of it?" Vino asked, trying to pry more information.

"That's the thing," Dr. Briefs said, speaking up. "We don't know what the catalyst of his heart disease it is."

"Whatever it is, it's been there for some time now," Bulma added. "We don't know what happened to him, but whatever did happen, happened to augment the symptoms of his disease and speed it up."

"Is there a cure?" Chi-Chi questioned.

All three of them remained silent. The old doctor of the hospital tried his best to find one, but couldn't even get a speck of information for a cure. Bulma put aside her past enmity against Kakarot to the side just so she could be able to keep Kakarot alive so he'd be there to help both of their businesses flourish. At the very least, she convinced herself of that. Over time, she had developed a close friendship with Kakarot's son and she only knew how heartbroken the boy would be to lose his father at such a time.

"We have nothing," Dr. Briefs said solemnly. "We've called various hospitals, expert doctors, and scientists...as well as try out our own experiments. And we've all only managed to come up with nothing. We're deeply sorry."

And this ripped out the hope from Chi-Chi's heart, as well as Ox and Dedana. To hear such a thing made them all almost certain that an ineluctable death of an admired and loved person would come, sooner or later. Chi-Chi buried her face in her husband's bedside, not wanting to show her tears to the others as she whimpered silently.

Ox remained with a blank stare, looking at the others outside. The moment he heard those first three words exit the mouth of Dr. Briefs, his heart had just sunk from his chest to the bottom of his feet. He felt it, but the kid didn't show any emotion.

Dedana backed up against a wall and slid onto her behind, silent as well as the others. Duvin walked past the three geniuses while shaking his head. "I need a drink," he said as he exited the room. This was all stressing to him, mainly because of the business. Without Kakarot, he wondered if things would be able to run as efficiently.

"Thank you," Vino said, being the only one to remain as cool as he was. "We appreciate it."

The doctor turned around and exited the room as well. "We'll let you know if we find something. In the meanwhile, just try to bear with everything, okay?" Vino nodded, being the only one remaining somewhat optimistic in the room.

Dr. Briefs pulled his hair back, letting out a deep breath. "These things happen, you know. I'll be sure to keep trying."

"We're going to keep trying," Vino said. "Except we're not going to stay here."

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked. "Here is the only place Kakarot will be able to get the treatment that he needs."

"Quite the contrary," Vino said. "I've traveled with Kakarot out in space. Out on one planet, we've made a base there. Though we've had little time in the world, I could already tell that their technology is far more advanced than what is here. It's more likely that we'd have a safe bet of finding a cure for Kakarot over there then we would here."

"Even if so, he'd have to suffer for a couple more days traveling through the universe!" Bulma yelled. "He'd die before you'd even make it there."

Vino sighed. "I know, but on our ship, we have a rejuvenation chamber. Kakarot can be put there in the meantime. Hopefully, it prolongs his well being for a while longer until we're able to reach our base."

Dr. Briefs took a cigarette that was being held by his ear and placed it into his mouth. "Regardless of the situation, it seems like the best bet to me." He took out a lighter and lit his cigarette. "Bulma, I'll go get the ship ready and we'll be on our way very soon." He left the room, puffing on his cancer stick.

"I guess this leaves us with no other option," Bulma said, shaking her head. This in itself was very risky, though she didn't see there was another option. The chances of finding a cure for Kakarot's rare condition was next to none. Traveling to a planet with higher technology and perhaps far better info on one's physiology was the best bet. Vino was right.

"It's our best chance," Vino replied curtly. "Either that or we watch him patiently die through his constant state of agony. What do you prefer?"

The purple haired scientist was still highly reluctant about this and was yet to let words leave her mouth as a direct answer to Vino's advice.

Chi-Chi raised her reddened face and dried the tears from her eyes. "We have to do this. Please."

Seeing the pain in Chi-Chi's eyes made her realize just how important this was to her, as well as them all in the current situation. Ox got up from his chair and neared his father's bed. "We're leaving right now."

"I'll go tell the doctors right now," Bulma said.

"No," Vino spoke to her. "If you tell them, then all the people outside will know as well. We don't need this right now. It's best we just take him and leave."

"I agree," Ox said, already at his dad's side. The boy started to remove the covers from his father, who was trying to quiet himself. Kakarot was aware of the pain and didn't want to bring too much outside attention so he tried to shut himself up the best he could, no matter how difficult it was. Ox picked Kakarot up from the bed and held his father over his shoulders.

"I'm going to let everyone at Kame House know what's going on," Bulma said. "I'll be sure to slip past them and be with you guys as soon as possible."

Dedana stood up, a little smirk on her face. "Just when I thought things were gonna go bad." The woman went over to Chi-Chi and grabbed her hand.

"We're all going to take off fast so nobody can catch us," Ox said, stating the plan.

Piccolo lowered himself by the window and entered inside, as did Videl aside them. "So you've managed to find some idea after all, huh?"

"Where are you going?" the little girl asked.

"Out," Ox responded. He looked at Piccolo and motioned the Namekian to move to the side. Hearing the silent yelps from his father directly in his ear made the boy all the more impatient to leave. "We need to get going as soon as possible."

"Should I leave with you?" Videl asked.

"You'll have to ask your dad," Ox said. The boy hopped through the window and took off through the sky as quickly as he could. He made sure none of the people below even caught a glimpse of his movements, flying at supersonic speeds. Dedana did the same, holding Chi-Chi with her as well.

And just like that, they were the only ones in the entire room. From behind entered Duvin, who had a cup of coffee in his hands. The man looked around, immediately noticing that the bed was empty. Piccolo and Videl had their eyes on Duvin, who was nothing but bewildered.

"Where'd they go?"

* * *

"And to find out that he's missing out of his bed is perhaps one of the worst of news," a reporter spoke. "One of the doctors entered the room to find out that he's no longer there. Their main question is how did he leave and why? If he truly did leave through the front door, then people would have noticed! No choppers or anything was above to put him on, as someone would have noticed.."

The reporter on the television continued to speak and speak.

"This wasn't the update I was expecting," Muten Roshi said, still watching the television.

"Surely there has to be some kind of explanation," Oolong said.

"Bulma must have had something to do with it," Yamcha spoke out. "I mean, she was gonna help him, right?"

"You should ask her," Lazuli said. "She's right outside."

As if on cue, the engine to a vehicle could be heard roaring just outside the Kame House, getting closer and closer as it landed. Everyone dashed outside to see if it was truly Bulma or not. They saw her car slowly descending down, blowing out gust of wind in the process. Once the copter landed, she turned the engine off and hopped out the car.

They didn't even let the woman greet and got to asking her questions.

"What's going on?" Yamcha asked.

"We heard Kakarot isn't in his hospital bed anymore," Krillin spoke up. "Is he okay?"

Before anyone else could speak, the purple haired female calmed them all down by raising her hands. "Yes, yes. His partner Vino actually came up with a plan. We came to find out that Kakarot has an undiscovered heart virus, something very uncommon. Once we found out there wasn't a cure here, then Vino suggested that we go out into space and go to a planet with a far more advanced technological base. There, we can hopefully find a cure."

"In space, huh?" Yamcha questioned. "Are you going with?"

"I have to," Bulma answered. "It's the only way I'll be able to get more information about this virus and potentially prevent others from having this and many other diseases, too. You never know what you can learn out there."

"That makes a lot of sense," Oolong said. "I hope you guys don't encounter any guys like Freeza out there."

"Truly, I hope everything goes well," Roshi said. "I know Kakarot, like any other person, has his own pros and cons, but he doesn't deserve to go out with a heart virus. I see that he's managed to redeem himself over the years, so it's a must that he comes out alive." The old man fixed his shades and started to head back inside his home, much less concerned about Kakarot's well being. He was confident that everything would now turn out okay and he'd get back to his normal routine.

"Same here," Oolong said. He and Puar both headed inside as well. They knew all they needed to know and didn't even bother to try and garner more information.

"So my rematch is assured," Tien told Chaotzu. The three-eyed warrior/farmer grinned. He felt he'd have a chance to fight Kakarot sometime in the future and took off into the sky. "Let me know whenever he's back here." He and Chaotzu took off into the sky, headed back to their respective homes.

The only person left outside was Yamcha, who looked at Bulma. Said woman was ready to carry on with her business as she didn't time to waste and got ready to head back into her copter.

"Wait," Yamcha called out. The scarred martial artist ran over to Bulma, catching her attention. She didn't have anything to say to him right now and just remained there. He looked into Bulma's colorful eyes. "We still need to talk."

Bulma held a grudge against Yamcha so badly, but at the same time, she knew she still had feelings for him. Had she simply forgot and left everything in the past, she would truly be treating Yamcha like any normal friend. At the current moment, the 29-year-old woman was confused. She wasn't confused about her feelings, but what she wanted to do with them. Looking at Yamcha, she noticed a deep level of concern and could tell he was truly sorry.

Bulma leaned in on Yamcha and kissed him on the cheek. Once she pulled back she caressed his face with a soft smile. Yamcha was left dumbfounded, not having anything to say. He expected Bulma to continue with her aggrieved attitude towards him, but she did the total contrary. "We'll have dinner when I'm back, okay?"

"Y-yeah." Yamcha had a hard time holding back his smile. "Okay, Bulma." He watched as she walked towards her copter and entered inside. She looked at Yamcha from inside as she roared the engine and prepared to take off. Once Bulma's copter took off, Yamcha could feel his heart pounding. He had a great sense of relief and happiness with him. "I won't mess it up this time. I promise."

* * *

"Out of space?" At her home, Videl had just spoken with her father about the entire scenario. He knew what was going on as he had been watching television, though he had no idea that his daughter was so close to Kakarot's family. The man rubbed his hairy chin, pondering on if he truly should let his six-year-old daughter leave or not. "That's very dangerous, Videl."

"But I've been training! I even fought some of the bad guys that attacked earth! With Ox by my side, we can fight anything together!"

Mark sighed, unsure of if he really should or not. His daughter was six and she was willing to go so far out so soon. Sure, when she was training with Ox or Piccolo, he knew she would be okay. But outer space was an entirely different thing. The man sighed and sat down on his couch. "I-I don't know, sweetie."

"Ox's dad is in bad pain and he needs a friend, dad! Don't you remember how it felt when mommy passed? I only had you and you were out with other women! I had no one to support me! I know how Ox feels."

To even bring up Miguel, Mark's late wife, had the man come to a realization. Not once after his wife's death, did they even bother to bring up such a thing? He didn't even know. Just sitting on the couch, contemplating on everything, made Mark realize just how much of an idiot he had been for the past while now. His daughter was right and he knew it. The man had his eyes closed and simply nodded. "Fine..." he stood up, making up his mind. "But I'm coming with."

"Really?" Videl asked.

"Yes. No matter what, I'll make sure to defend you when necessary." He ruffled Videl's hair and headed out the door. "I'll start the car."

Videl laughed out loud. "We don't need a car, dad!" She grabbed Mark's hand with great haste and ran to the door, opening it.

"H-hey!" Mark barely had time to slam the door before he was taken into the air by his daughter. The man's eyes widened, then began to blink furiously. Was he in a dream or was this real? His daughter lifted him in the sky, holding his hand as she zoomed through the cool breeze. "W-wha-?" the man could barely manage to form words.

"Hehehehe!"

* * *

When people passed Capsule Corp, they all saw a couple of giant ships just residing in the backyard. None knew what they were for, nor did they bother to ask. Dr. Briefs was in one of the ships, which was just wide open for anyone to enter. He looked around the place, being in the second story. The first story of the ship was for training as the second was for the medical room, where Kakarot would have to be placed in. He puffed on his cigarette, many thoughts circulating in that clever brain of his.

"Hey!"

Dr. Briefs heard a familiar voice from the first floor and walked directly in the center of the second room, standing in a circle. He stepped on a three-way switch, commanding the circle to elevate him back to the first floor.

Ox, Dedana, Chi-Chi, and Vino all happened to be waiting for him. Kakarot could be heard groaning in pain still, being carried by his son. "We're here."

Dr. Briefs nodded and clicked the switch once more, enabling it to lower him into the second room. "Follow me." Everyone quickly got into the giant circle, entering the room with Dr. Briefs. There, they each entered the medical/bathroom.

An empty rejuvenation chamber could be seen in the corner of the room while a bathtub and a shower were on the other side, completely across from the healing tank. There was a sink and many other necessities there, even with a refrigerator.

"So this is what it looks like now?" Ox asked, looking around. The ship looked a lot more spacious compared to the ones he had traveled in before. The kid was fond of it.

"Yep," Dr. Briefs said, blowing out smoke. "This was what was requested of me after all."

Ox looked right at a tall, tank made of glass with a giant keypad attached to it. "That's where my dad has to go?" Ox asked.

"Yes," Dr. Briefs answered. He neared the healing tank and pressed a few buttons. The front part of the glass tank opened, allowing whoever needed to be placed there. Ox neared the tank and made sure to carefully put his dad in there, feet first.

Kakarot backed up against the glass, breathing heavily. Hanging from above inside the tank were tubes and masks. Ox knew to place them on and did so. He lowered down by Kakarot's feet and clamped them together with metal rings, so he wouldn't lose his balance. Once finished, he hopped from outside.

"There." Dr. Briefs pressed a few buttons, having the tank close Kakarot inside there. "The mask will allow him to receive oxygen while inside. He won't have to worry about breathing himself as much, which would only worsen the pain of his heart. Hopefully, this works." He pressed a few more buttons, eliciting a couple of beeps from the machine.

The top of the tank started to splash onto Kakarot and fell down to the very bottom of the tank, slowly letting all the liquid build up. "Instead of using the usual medicine that I've seen the machine use before, my daughter and I decided to make some innovations."

"And what would they be?" Vino asked.

"Oh, I can explain that myself!" a voice shouted from above. Everyone looked up into the giant gaping hole in the first section of the ship, seeing Bulma alongside Videl and a new guest, who waved at everyone.

Videl hopped down with them both in hand, landing softly.

"Hey," Bulma said, greeting everybody.

"I see you brought a new guest," Vino pointed out, referring to the unfamiliar man in the group.

"I'm Mark," the man said, speaking for himself. "I'm Videl's father."

"He wanted to come along with his daughter," Bulma said. "I told him that he was welcome to do so. You never know...you might get to learn something new."

"Indeed," Dr. Briefs said. "Nice to meet you, Mark."

"Nice to meet you all," he responded.

"What does the machine do?" Chi-Chi asked, more worried about the functions of the machine and how it'd benefit her husband rather than simple pleasantries.

Bulma neared the machine, seeing that green liquids were beginning to build up. "Kakarot's looking to be in a lot less pain now," Bulma said. "It's working." Turning around, she faced Chi-Chi. "Father and I replaced the initial blue healing medicine with green liquids. Through various experiments, we've managed to convert the senzu beans into a form of liquid. We've used enough of them to where they were capable to be used in the healing chambers. We find that it's much more effective than the initial version itself."

"So it'll help him?" Ox asked, his tone of voice more high pitched than usual. His hope slowly began to rise. Yes, they were yet to find a cure for his father's condition, but he felt that things were just going to be fine from this point on.

"This is the first time we've tried this on someone with such a serious condition," Dr. Briefs answered. "So far it seems like everything will go just fine."

"So this is the guy I've been hearing so much about," Mark said, now standing aside Ox. He patted the boy on the back and looked at him with a smile. "my daughter speaks a lot about you, kid. Mostly good things do. I mean, there's a lot of thin-"

"Dad," Videl said aloud. "Not now."

"Eh? I was just tryna lighten the mood, Videl!"

The girl tried to hide her blushed cheeks, somewhat nervous. She felt that her dad was going to spill the beans about her having a bit of an infatuation with Ox. She didn't want that out in the open, especially at a time like this.

"So are we going to take off or what?"

"Someone's going to have to put in the coordinates of where we have to go," Dr. Briefs said.

"I'll do that," Dedana participated. The Andedian walked in the giant circle and looked down. "Which button do I press?"

"The top one," Dr. Briefs informed. "It goes one, two, and three."

"Gotcha." Dedana did as directed and in just a matter of seconds, the circle in the middle of the room rose up to the first section of the ship, where she would go to set the coordinates in so she'd have them all headed to the planet that they needed to go.

"So is Kakarot going to be alright?" Chi-Chi asked.

Bulma looked at the man in the chamber and noticed that his eyes were shut tight and he didn't seem to make any movements. There was a heart monitor from the machine, which suggested that he was very well still alive. "He hasn't been asleep for a couple of days now, so I'd imagine he's getting some long sought out rest."

"That's what he's going to need," Dr. Briefs said, puffing on his cigarette still. He removed it from his mouth and blew out some smoke, not caring of those being bothered by it. "He's going to need to be strong to fight it. And if he doesn't get some quality rest, then he won't be able to battle his heart virus."

'So this is the great Kakarot,' Mark thought to himself. The man had heard about this kid for a while now, starting from many years ago when Kakarot was just a teen, participating in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. It wasn't until a couple of years later that his name had resurfaced yet again, having heard of him making his own business. He was gaining quickly in popularity, already being familiar with some who had witnessed his extraordinary skills in the tournament when he was just a youngster. He couldn't imagine he'd be capable of seeing him right now, especially like this.

"Pilaf and Soba both are going to be here in a little bit," Bulma told everyone. "So don't start the ship until he is here."

Everyone all understood and decided to wait. In the meantime, they each had their eyes glued to Kakarot, who remained still in the tank. Had he not been found the moment was, Kami knows what would have taken place next.

Now they had to hope for the best of all this.


	53. Dreams of the past

This chapter people, is a **very** special one. Not because something special is to go on in this particular chapter, however this day we cross two bridges:

 _1\. We've gotten this story to eclipse 300,000 words. I'll tell you guys, I have many more chapters and it could be that we go over 500,000. Maybe more._

 _2\. Today also marks the one year anniversary of this story being published. The first chapter of this story I published was June 21st of 2017 and today, June 21st of 2018 marks 360+ days, 50+ weeks, and exactly 12 months of consistent uploading with this story. The main reason I skipped one week of uploading was so I would remain in schedule and be able to publish on this very day. To some, it may not be all that special, but to those who have stuck around, you may feel a bit of what I'm feeling._

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

The heart condition Kakarot was enduring wasn't something expected of a Saiyan to truly have to go through. From the race he was bred of, the vast majority of those people were not only known as physically strong warriors but also mentally. Such a fatal disease/virus was something that rarely occurred, if ever. The expectations of a warrior would be to outlive the disease and continue his connate destiny of being on the battlefield to eventually die there. It could be chalked up to the fact that Kakarot himself was the first Saiyan of his generation, perhaps his entire race's history, to ever have to be put through such a thing. And being in his shoes, it wasn't the most effortless thing to have to put up with. Apart from all his dire moments, one where it seemed like there was no hope when it came to fighting a potent enemy, the man in the rejuvenation tank himself would have to say that this was the hardest thing he would ever have to go through. Out of all his 25 years of life, this was something beyond his will-his own control. Had he been simply a couple of minutes later prior to being put in the healing chamber, he would have been dead.

It had been a couple of days since he was in the tank, a couple days out of the next week or so until he'd be able to arrive at his own base. Thanks to being put in the reformed rejuvenation chamber, the Saiyan was having an easier time with his heart. He owed the majority of the thanks to the breathing mask that was implemented inside there by none other than the genius scientists of Capsule Corporation. Once he tried to inhale, he felt millions of sting like feelings attacking his heart and it made it difficult for him to take any breaths at all. He felt a pain throughout his lower spine as well as his chest, though it wasn't as bad as it was days ago.

He opened his eyes halfway, still extremely exhausted from the condition he had to put up with. He didn't get much sleep for a couple of days now and he just felt a major sting that struck him from his short resting period. Though his eyes weren't completely open, he noticed there were some people outside, mostly sleeping. He couldn't decipher just whom all these people were as his vision was blinded by the liquid in the tank as well as the glass, adding to the fact that his eyesight still wasn't very much all the best.

Just being in the tank had the man remind him of a very similar scenario. It was like a deep nostalgic feeling that he was incapable of verbalizing. He knew it was something, though he just couldn't voice it out, not simply because of his current state, but it was just a feeling unable to be spoken of through simplistic words.

"I-Is he awake?" in the first, second, and third section of the ships, people had their own beds resided there so they could sleep. All of them had it in a capsule for their own respective beds. The only ones in the second floor were Chi-Chi, Ox, Pilaf, Soba, and Dedana.

Chi-Chi was the one who rarely slept at all. All the others beside her were knocked out like a light. It had been a long time since they had received a response from Kakarot, and none of them expected one anytime soon. So for that very reason, they went to sleep. Not Chi-Chi, though. The woman was the only person in the entire ship besides Ox who had the utmost concern for her husband. Though very tired, she had been keeping an eye out for him and made sure her ears were open, listening to the heart monitor from the rejuvenation tank.

Having noticed Kakarot's eyes move for a brief second, she pressed her hands against the glass. "Kakarot...if you can hear me, please let me know you'll be okay, somehow..." she looked right at the man's face, patiently awaiting a response. The man seemed to be looking a lot better compared to how he was holding up in the hospital bed, though Chi-Chi needed some form of confirmation to know he was okay-that he was feeling better. Just knowing that would put her at ease.

Chi-Chi was close enough for Kakarot to point out internally that it was indeed his wife who was right next to him. Through all the bubbling waters and deep sounds of the machine from the inside of the tank, he could hear his wife's soft words loud and clear. The only downside was that he was totally incapable of responding. All he could do was look at her with his eyes half closed. This feeling...this moment, felt far too evocative. Just then, a strong hit of enervation began to overcome the Saiyan. He tried to fight it but to no avail. Just mere seconds after having his eyes sealed shut, he drifted off to sleep.

Chi-Chi, having gotten no response, not even a non-verbal signal, pressed her forehead to the glass of the tank and sighed, a teardrop falling atop the keypad of the healing chamber. As bad as things seemed, she had hope. But deep inside, there was still some doubt in her mind.

* * *

BLUB BLUB

BLUB BLUB

Those same bubbly sounds emitted from a machine, though it wasn't a rejuvenation tank. Opening his eyes, he noticed he wasn't in the same room he felt himself to be in just moments before going to sleep. Here, he was in a less spacious room, though a female was blocking the rest of the scenery. This woman he was looking at not only looked, though felt extremely familiar. Her hands were pressed against the tank, looking into his eyes. She had a look of slight concern mixed with a bit of joy as well.

"He's finally opened his eyes," the woman spoke out, her voice nearly full of glee.

Kakarot kept his eyes peeled, looking at this woman. He'd seen her many times before in his dreams when he was a youngster, but none as vivid as this. What was going on?

Just from behind her ran up a little boy with long hair, having heard her speak out. He looked at Kakarot, eyes full of fascination. "He's finally awake..."

The woman looked down at the little boy by her side and smiled. She placed her hand on the kid's wild set of hair and looked back at Kakarot. "He looks just like your father, doesn't he Raditz?"

Raditz nodded his head. "Yeah...his hair is starting to grow like father's, too."

Knowing that she wasn't the only one that saw it, the woman smiled. "I hope he turns out to be just like him."

"Why?"

Not for a moment did Gine think that she would actually have to explain herself to her firstborn. Even so, he was just a little boy and like all kids, they needed some form of guidance and wisdom. "Look, Raditz. I know you're going to be on your first mission with Prince Vegeta very soon, but don't let it get to your head, okay? Almost every other Saiyan I met are all just battle hungry, bloodthirsty barbarians. Yes, some are nicer than others, but they're all just cold-hearted and of simple thoughts." She turned around, looking down on her son. "The world out there as a combatant is tough. You've heard the stories about going out there and killing people, despite them being innocent or not. I've seen young, rather sweet little boys like you turn into monsters just from having spent all their lives conquering worlds. You, too, can't let yourself turn out like that Raditz. I want the same for the both of you."

Kakarot finally knew where he was at now. He was seeing through the eyes of his younger self. This memory had far been in the back of his head, though now it had just come up, and this time in full clarity. He could see that this woman was his mother and the little boy was no doubt his older brother, who turned out exactly how their mother didn't want. He could only imagine how she would think of them both had she seen Raditz leave his only little brother to die and for Kakarot to come back and murder Raditz in cold blood.

"But that's what Saiyans do!" Raditz protested. "We go out there to serve Lord Freeza and fight." The little boy had a look of pride plastered on his face. "We're Saiyans, right mother? That's what we're meant to do. Something you couldn't!"

 **SLAP! ! !**

Gine smacked her son across the face in a swift, quick, yet hard manner. Her tail lashing from side to side out of a rise in temper and her face showed that she wasn't very pleased with her son's comment. The woman was one of the softer Saiyans, sure, though it didn't mean she had no authority over her son, nor was she a person that allowed people to merely insult her, whether it be direct, indirect, intentional, or unintentional. "Think before you speak, Raditz. You're not even out on the front lines yet and you're starting to develop the attitude of the others out there. If it were up to me, you'd be here, training, just to get stronger. If not for Freeza..." she just shook her head.

Raditz had a frown on his face as he rubbed his red cheek. The little boy was impulsive and felt he had a little superiority over others since he was going to be the one to get to fight alongside Prince Vegeta, a feat no other kid on Planet Vegeta would never be able to brag about. Sometimes he did speak before he thought of the words coming out of his mouth, even to his mother, whom he respected for sure. "I'm sorry, mother..." despite Gine's lack of Saiyan pride as many peers of her would say as well as simple prowess, he knew not to cross her. The only people he respected most were Gine, the higher class Saiyans (those he had to show respect to), and his father: Bardock. Back talking to Gine was a no-no as she wasn't afraid of smacking him around every now and then when he got out of line. "I was just saying...Kakarot is a Saiyan, too. He needs to be able to go out there and fight."

"I agree," Gine said, crossing her arms. Cooling down a bit, the young woman wrapped her furry tail around her waistline and looked back to Kakarot. "But he doesn't have to be like them. I know you don't see your father much, but you can tell he's different, can't you?"

"Yes," Raditz said, nodding. "I know."

"That's because Bardock has what most others lack: compassion for others. He has a tough front, but inside, he's sort of a softy. He has calm judgment and at the very least, a hint of clemency, only when it comes to our fellow people. When I used to fight alongside Bardock-"

"You've told me a hundred times," Raditz said, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe Kakarot needs to listen, too," Gine said. "On the battlefield, he showed us to be the bravest warrior. At the same time, when others were in need of help, he would actually go out to save them. Raditz, if you and Prince Vegeta were to go out to a planet right now and if you ended up in trouble, he wouldn't hesitate to save you. He'd continue on with his business and leave you to fend for yourself. If you were with your father, then he'd save you and tell you not to let it happen again."

"Yeah, I know."

"But if you were to go out and do it again, he'd save you again." Gine chuckled. The woman recalled those moments where she almost died or was caught up in a very sketchy predicament. Bardock would come out of nowhere and swoop her to safety. Though he seemed like an angry man every time he saved her, he was one with good intentions at heart. "Many Saiyan fathers don't even care enough for their children. They just send them off when the time is right and continue with their own battles. If they see one another, they may speak, but that's it. When a Saiyan boy or girl doesn't have a parent to look up to, he or she goes to the others. They influence her to be like they are, and thus, another simpleminded and pitiless soldier is created." She looked back down to her son. "It's a cycle Raditz. Regardless of what may happen, don't get caught up in it."

The little boy grinned. He and Gine both had their hands pressed up against the glass, looking at the young Kakarot. "Whenever Kakarot is old enough, please tell me, mother. I'll make sure we don't split apart like the others. Kakarot and I will be fighting together and I'll make sure to steer him right." The little boy had a big smile at the thought of being one of the only Saiyans that would go out and fight with none other than his own brother by his side.

"I sure hope so, Raditz. I sure hope so..."

* * *

And given what history has shown, none of it turned out as many of the past thought it out to be. The dream had ended, though Kakarot finally got a clear picture of the type of people he came from. This sudden dream made it specific for him to finally. The Saiyan was awake, though, in his present state, he recalled vividly all of what had taken place prior to landing on earth.

The bubbles being produced from the water suddenly went away as he heard a sound of specific draining taking place in the tank. Holes at the bottom of the tank opened, thus letting all the water being drained out. In just a matter of seconds, Kakarot could feel the water going down his legs. The entrance to the tank opened and everyone was right before him. His vision immediately got blurry before he could see anyone else within his vicinity.

The mask detached itself from his mouth and was left hanging. He tried to take in a deep breath, but a pinching feel pressed against his chest. Kakarot's face winced as he let out a vicious groan. Ox came to him and detached the metal material from his feet and picked his dad up.

"We're finally here," Dr. Briefs said, just lighting a cigarette up. "Vino led Bulma and all the others out from the ship and directed them each to the medical room. You'll be headed there shortly, son."

"I can sense their ki," Ox said. "I know where they're at right now."

Kakarot tried to hold himself from letting out a scream. After all those moments of excruciating pain, he was placed in the rejuvenation tank, which had assuaged the agony. Now that he was taken out, it felt as if everything had gotten ten times worse. Kakarot let in one major breath and held it in, not wanting to experience anymore physical torment. He bit his tongue to refrain himself from letting out a yelp.

Ox, once he had his father over his shoulders, walked over to the circle with Dr. Briefs, who had them both enter into the first section of the pod.

Vino had just entered the medical room where the Doctor was taking care of some work. He had never expected that an entire group of unfamiliar people besides Dedana and Vino would enter his room. The green skinned doctor looked around, eyes wide through his giant glasses. "How may I assist you and your friends, Sir Vino."

"We have a problem," Bulma said, speaking up. The woman stretched her hand out, offering a shake. "You can call me Ms. Briefs."

The alien doctor was very unfamiliar with greeting customs of foreign people. Being friendly, he mirrored her gesture and shook it. "I'm Dr. Sucidem." Once Bulma shook his hand, he pulled back. "Now, what's this problem?"

"Our friend has a heart virus," Pilaf said, speaking up. "We come from a planet called earth and there aren't any cures. We came here hoping there would be one."

"Well," Sucidem looked up and turned around, hands placed behind his back. "One thing I know is that in order to find a cure it varies on the species of a person. I've worked with healing countless individuals with constant problems, and it all depends on the genetic make-up of the person. With all the species that have endured some type of illness or disease, I've made sure to do countless research on them all, just in case something of the like was to come up once more. Though there isn't very much research as we truly don't have such problems often. Perhaps once every falling star."

"That's very smart," Bulma said.

"Then we shouldn't have any problem at all, right?" Chi-Chi asked, her hopes up.

Before Dr. Sucidem could even respond the anxious woman's question, in came both Dr. Briefs and Ox, who was carrying his father. The little boy stopped for a moment upon entering and looked around the room, searching for a healing tank. "Open it, please."

Dr. Sucidem did as told and pressed a few buttons on a monitor of his. The tank opened, allowing Ox to place his father in there. Dr. Sucidem came by his side and attached wires to Kakarot's body and put on the breathing mask so he could breathe properly. "I know enough to know he'll need assistance breathing." Sucidem then stepped down and sighed. "But...this will be something else for me when it comes to Sir Kakarot's condition."

"What do you mean?" Ox asked.

Everyone had their attention on Sucidem as he typed on his monitor, enabling the tank to close and let all the liquids inside get into Kakarot's body. "Never before had I had a case of a Saiyan come in with any type of disease, nor has anyone else for that matter. The only times they come in is when they're badly damaged due to some sort of battle. Other than that, we've never come to these types of situations with Saiyans. Thus, no research has truly been put through for any types of cures when it comes to the Saiyan body."

"Saiyans are compatible enough to breed with us humans," Dr. Briefs mentioned. "Our genetic make-up is truly not that different entirely."

"Yeah," Ox agreed. "And some of the aliens look just like humans, too! Maybe you can try out past formulas from them for my dad."

Dr. Sucidem eyed Kakarot, watching the Saiyan being surrounded by nothing but dark blue waters with healing pathogens as he remained in the tank. He thought about it for a short moment and then nodded. "We can get right started on that. For those who desire to learn, follow me. We have a lab for our own testing."

Out the door went Dr. Briefs, Bulma, Vino, and Dedana. The rest all stayed, making sure that Kakarot would be well-taken care of.

"Will he be okay?" Soba asked, his eyes darting from person to person in the room. He was just as nervous as the others were. They had hoped the moment they figured that a more technological and scientific advanced world would perhaps come up the with the cure, but the moment Dr. Sucidem spoke about never having any research done on Saiyans, they were back at square one.

Chi-Chi wasn't too sure, but she wasn't going to give up just yet. She's seen her husband go through enough punishment, and just like those, this moment was just another challenge for him to overcome. She wrapped her arms around Ox's shoulders and pulled the boy in close to her legs.

Ox and the others just stared.

Pilaf neared the tank as well, twiddling his thumbs. The man didn't quite know what to think at this current moment. He had known Kakarot from since when he was a little boy. Yes, they may have split over the past decade or so, but that little bond was still there and they had mutual respect for one another. Regardless of how much more distant their relationship continued to get, Pilaf still felt a large matter of concern for his friend.

Even in the healing tank, he could feel the pressure being placed on his chest. He kept his eyes shut as tight as he possibly could, though it didn't make the pain go away. Kakarot smashed his hand against the glass of the machine, moaning. Multiple bubbles formed from his mouth, which more than likely happened to be muffled yells.

"Oh no!" Soba exclaimed. "Is this another episode?"

"Unfortunately so," Ox said in a low tone.

None of them had any other option but to watch Kakarot suffer. The beeping that kept track of his heart's condition was going by at a rapid rate, indicating that Kakarot was indeed having some kind of heart attack. The Saiyan's eyes shot open subsequent to feeling a piercing sting go right up his spine and right to his heart. The pain was so much that he didn't even yell, he just looked like he was in a state of shock.

The beeping of the monitor eventually calmed down, thus showing that the pain was subsiding. Kakarot, still extremely exhausted, began to close his eyes. Yet again, the Saiyan was going off into a world of his own, one that consisted of dreams of the past.


	54. The Beginning of it all

**Takes place between chapters 1 and 2**

For many, it was what one would call a normal day. You'd wake up, perform Your daily routine and be finished in the midst of the afternoon and the night. Many different people had their own routine and followed it, usually to go without any abnormalities. However, for one specific group of hunters, it wasn't every day that you'd find a wild baby out in the middle of nowhere.

Diablo Desert was a place people didn't desire to go and for many reasons. The land had nothing but sand, giant pillars and mushroom trees. Any normal person wouldn't survive an entire day if they didn't have any necessities for survival. The heat during the morning and throughout the day was excruciatingly hot, which was another reason many didn't come this way.

This area was the perfect residence for a small group of people who lived in a giant castle in this area. Between two large sets of stairs, which contained a couple dozen steps, resided a door, which was mostly traps for intruders looking to snoop around. Inside, there were many rooms, though not enough people to fit them all. Initially, there were three entire people that had this castle, but that changed with the addition of a new person, and a fairly young one at that.

In one of the lower rooms of the castle was the dining room. Here, a three-year-old rambunctious boy with a monkey-like tail could be seen crouching on top of a table, stuffing his mouth with all kinds of foods. Watching him were Pilaf, Mai, and Soba. The trio was in shock, not able to believe that a toddler had a stomach with such capacity of taking in so much food without throwing it all back up or getting queasy.

"H-he is a baby, right?" Soba asked, his voice full of doubt. "I-I mean...I'm a dog and even I don't eat that much."

Soba continued to watch with the others as he didn't get an answer. Kakarot grabbed bread, apples, cherries, whatever was on a plate or basket and placed them all into his mouth. The kid didn't bother to take any time to savor his food, filling his belly with what he so long lacked. All there was left were simple bread crumbs and spilled juices on the now soaked silky cloth that covered the dining table.

"Alright." Pilaf got up from the couch in the room and neared the boy. "It's time for him to go to bed." Kakarot minded his business, hastily wiping away at his face in an attempt to wipe away the leftover food crumbs that were stuck around his lip and cheek. "Okay, let's bring him up to bed." He grabbed Kakarot by the hip and lifted the kid off the table.

The three-year-old Saiyan hissed and kicked his feet all over the place. Pilaf lost control and started to wobble over, struggling with holding the boy. He was kicked hard in the jaw and sent sliding across the floor. Kakarot fell down on his hands and knees, head jerking all over the place like a madman placed into a maze.

"P-Pilaf!" Soba went running over to the blue imp. He crouched down to check on his leader who was rubbing his reddened face. "Are you okay?" he asked with deep concern.

Pilaf was angry. His jaw was red from the kick as well as his entire face was due to his growing rage. "Kill that little devil! Throw him out or something!"

Soba nodded and drew his sword. "As you wish." The young dog was a bit nervous, but he knew who was the one calling the shots here. He carefully neared Kakarot, who looked at him with wide eyes-not one of fear-but of curiosity. He had never seen such a long and shiny object before and the sight of it simply fascinated him. He had no idea that it was going to be used to take care of him.

"No." Mai stood in front of Soba, her arms stretched out to her sides. "You don't have to do that."

Pilaf got on his feet, frowning. "And why not? The little brat has given me more trouble than you two ever have and he hasn't even been with us for an entire day! We just got this castle built a month ago, so we can't go with him destroying it before we even get totally settled."

"It's fine, okay?" Mai eyed Soba, who remained on guard. She waited until the dog slowly started to put his sword away, shielding it. "I got this under control." She could tell Pilaf wasn't all happy with this, but he acquiesced anyway.

"Fine," Pilaf said. He neared the exit of the room. "If you don't tame that boy soon, we're throwing him out." He walked out the door, stomping away loudly after slamming it shut.

Soba simply followed Pilaf, leaving Mai and Kakarot alone. Said young girl crouched down by the three-year-old and smiled. "You okay?" Kakarot was calmed down a bit, though a bit anxious still. These people were complete strangers to him. Out the three, this girl seemed to be the only one that was nicest to him. She was the one that decided to bring him in, fed him, and now this. While he couldn't verbalize exactly what was transpiring at the current moment, he had a good understanding for his age. She raised her hand carefully, just so not to startle the boy. "I won't hurt you..."

He was nervous, but he could feel the cautious vibe coming from her. He didn't react and let the young girl touch his head, ruffling it softly. Once she went to scratching, he felt a nice sensation overcome his body. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long. Mai stood up, holding her hand out. "You need to go to sleep, okay?"

Kakarot stood on his two legs as well, though he didn't grab her hand. He just stared at her with an emotionless face. He was much more accustomed to her than compared to the others, though it didn't mean that he wasn't in the least bit wary of her actions. All his life, he was only familiar with one face, and that face belonged to his mother, whom he saw sporadically for very brief moments, spending the most of his time in an incubator.

"I don't want to have to drag you," Mai said softly. "Just follow me, please." She hoped the boy would comply with her showing a calm tone of voice. But Kakarot remained still, the only reaction being given was a wagging tail. Unlike Pilaf, she was patient, though she could tell this boy would bring a lot out of all of them already. "Fine." She crouched back down and got ready to pick him up.

Getting nervous once more, Kakarot swiped his hand for her. Mai's reflexes were quick and she backed away, missing the kid's attempt of a strike. "Kid..." she started to shake her head with a frown. "I've been training in fighting and the use of guns since I could walk. You don't want to test me."

Kakarot showed his teeth, giving off a low growl. Nobody here had any control of him, so why should he even care? Labeling everyone in the castle as an enemy, he lunged right for Mai.

"Tch..." Mai grabbed Kakarot by the shoulders and tossed the boy to the floor. He flipped on one knee and came back at her. She stepped to the side, letting Kakarot fall over on his chest subsequent to failing an attempt for a grapple. Mai walked behind the boy and grabbed him by the tail. "Hopefully this works again..." with the tail in her hand, she gave it a firm squeeze.

And as assumed, it had the exact influence that she was hoping for. Kakarot started to calm down. His eyes grew heavy and he finally fell asleep. "Phew." She wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. She was very young and skilled for her age, but this little guy was quick, agile and highly unpredictable. All three of these for his size and unordinary strength for his age made him something very versatile-something Pilaf could add as an accessory-much like her and Soba.

Pilaf sat on his little throne, looking into a hand mirror. He was observing his face, which was throbbing now. He touched his cheek, feeling the same area he got struck by that wild baby they just so happened to come across by very recently.

"It looks like the scratches are starting to finally go away," Soba observed.

Pilaf growled. He looked at his jaw and noticed it was beginning to swell. "Yeah, the scratches go and I end up with bruises now." He tossed the hand mirror over to the floor, cracking it. "Great."

"I don't think just killing him or throwing him for the wolves is a good option."

Pilaf eyed the dog. "And why not?"

"He's still just a baby," Soba reasoned. "Kids at that age don't know what they're really doing unless they're corrected."

Pilaf shook his head. "Babies aren't strong like him. Babies don't eat like him. And babies sure as hell don't have tails. Whatever he is, he's wild. And if push comes to shove, we'll have to throw him out."

Soba wasn't in total agreement with Pilaf's logic, though he knew better than to really speak on it. The dog lowered his head, tucked his tail and sighed. "Very well."

The doors to the throne room opened, revealing Mai. She neared Pilaf and Soba. Prior to speaking to Pilaf, she bowed down in respect. "I think I know what I can do to calm him down and make him a valuable member of the team."

"How?" Pilaf asked.

"He's very strong for his age. He just tried to attack me in the room and almost got me, too. He's quick and agile. One downside though is that he lacks skill. Had he hit me, I might not have gotten up. If trained properly by me with fighting and guns, he can become a good asset to us and go out with Soba and I on missions."

Pilaf's head raised a bit as he squinted his eyes. He knew all of what Mai was saying simply had to be true. He saw the kid in action with his own eyes. He rubbed his chin and continued to think on it.

"But shouldn't we wait a couple more years?" Soba asked. "He's still very young."

"I don't think age has anything to do with it," Mai responded. "He's young, but he can help, regardless of the age. We can use whatever we can get our hands on to find more Dragon Balls."

"That is a good idea, Mai...BUT...how are we going to calm the kid down?" Pilaf was still quite concerned with how the boy acted around them. He had a lot of energy, even for a kid his age. He could tear the entire castle down in one night if he so desired just by jumping around the entire place.

"Training with Mai and I and going on missions will more than likely keep him occupied, right?" Soba asked. That was the best thing he could come up with.

"And besides that, I'll educate the kid a bit. So when he's not on a mission, training with us, or eating, I will be teaching him. All of that will take time up for sure."

Pilaf grinned, liking the sound of that. He was fond of the idea that they'd have another member to the crew on their quest of gathering these special wishful objects called Dragon Balls. His main concern was if the boy would run around, punching, kicking and scratching him all the time. If he didn't have to worry about such things from the kid, then he was just fine with him sticking around. He just didn't want any monkey business.

"Alright, Mai. His training starts tomorrow morning. During the evening, we'll all be headed out into the woods. I've heard stories about there being some special things there. Perhaps the Dragon Ball could be one of them."

"Where?" Soba asked.

"On the west side of here," Pilaf said. "You'll see by tomorrow evening. For now, we all need to get some rest."

"Of course." Soba and Mai both headed out the door and carried themselves to their own respective rooms through the countless corridors of the enormous castle they were each now in.

Now that they were alone, Soba spoke up. "Do you really think everything will be fine with Kakarot?"

Mai herself wasn't all too sure. Honestly, she could only hope that everything would be just fine. "I can only hope so. Whatever happens, I'm not throwing a child out in that harsh desert by himself. Pilaf will just have to deal with it."

Soba's eyes widened a bit. "B-But that's going against his word...! You can't do that."

Mai shrugged her shoulders and went into their room in one of the higher floors of the castle. She turned around to face Soba, who was just outside the room. "Wait here while I get ready for bed." She slammed the door in his face and got started doing what she was doing.

Tomorrow they were going to start on Kakarot's training. She only hoped that everything would go just fine. If not, then they'd be in some trouble for sure.

* * *

Everyone, including the Saiyan boy, got a good nights rest. It was early morning and the sun was shining as bright as ever. Out of Pilaf, Mai, and Soba, Mai was the first one to usually be up. The young girl slowly opened her still heavy eyes, which were fluttering while she stretched. She pulled the covers from her nightgown and got out of bed, yawning.

The first thing that came to mind was a bit of breakfast to start the day. With that being first priority this early morning, that's exactly where she headed to. She walked down a bit of stairs until she reached the first few floors of the large and spacious castle.

Once her feet touched the ground, she walked down the hall a bit more before turning a corner. Once she entered the kitchen, she saw the refrigerator door all the way open. One of her brows raised in confusion. She knew that by this time neither Soba or Pilaf could be up unless they pulled an all-nighter, which was highly unlikely. Looking around a bit, she noticed a tail wagging. The girl sighed and facepalmed.

Having heard a little noise, Kakarot poked his face from the fridge. Any person could tell he was eating and drinking everything up. He had dried up milk on his face as well as various crumbs of food and fruits, too. He eyed Mai for a moment, squinted his eyes... and then shoved his face right back into the fridge.

"Ah..." Soba came from up the stairs, stretching. He woke up right after Mai did and was looking for something to eat as well. "What we got to eat today?"

Mai shook her head and looked back to the fridge. "Absolutely nothing..."

Soba's tail lowered in disappointment. Like Mai, it didn't take long for him to figure out just who was eating up all the food. "Pilaf won't be too happy about this..."

"No he won't," Mai said, agreeing.

"YAWN! Just what I won't be happy about, huh?" Pilaf chuckled through his tired morning voice. "Breakfast always makes me happy." He walked into the kitchen, hoping to fix himself up a meal to start the day, much like Mai and Soba both had planned. As he walked inside, he stepped on something and heard a crack. Pilaf looked down toward his foot and lifted it up. He just so happened to step onto a cracked eggshell. With his eyes a bit more open now, he looked at the fridge, which was just closed.

Kakarot backed away from it and fell over on his butt, burping out loud. He had a satisfied smirk on his face, having filled his belly up well. Pilaf's eyes were widened. He hoped Kakarot didn't do what he was thinking that Kakarot did. He was extremely reluctant to even look inside, having an innate feeling that all the food was long gone by now. He looked back at Mai and Pilaf and all they could do was respond by shaking their heads, telling him to not even try to look with no words. "Phoo..." Pilaf took a deep breath and opened the fridge. Once he looked inside for a few moments, he fell over on his back.

"That must be very bad," Soba said silently. He and Mai, both curious as to what was remaining in the fridge, neared it and took a peep inside. Inside this cool box was nothing but butter and Bologna. Soba had an equal reaction to Pilaf, and fell over on his back, landing right atop the blue imp.

Mai was at a loss for words. Just a night ago the entire fridge was full. All the food they bought would manage them a couple of weeks to perhaps a month even. She slowly turned around and looked at Kakarot, who had a hard time holding back some giggles.

Later on that very same day, Mai, Kakarot, and Soba were all outside. After Pilaf blew a fuse over all the food being gone, he decided to go out and buy some more with the money he had available. In the meantime, Kakarot would be trained by both Mai and Soba until the evening prior to heading out for their mission.

"Alright." Mai pointed to Soba, who had his sword drawn. "You see this? That's a sword. This is used to pierce things or people if need be. Going on missions with us, you'll need to learn how to use one." Mai reached into her coat and pulled out a pistol. "And one of these, too."

Soba gulped. He and Mai were really out in the blazing hot sun to teach a three-year-old to use weapons capable of fatal incidents. He didn't know why the hell he was truly going through with this.

"Alright." Mai pulled out a sword stuck to the ground and tossed it over to Kakarot. "Catch."

Kakarot did just that and caught the sword. The thing felt extremely light to him. He observed the shiny object closely before giving it a quick and unexpected swing.

Soba blinked constantly, trying to decipher if he saw that or not. "M-Mai...did you see his swing?"

"Yes," Mai said. She indeed did see it, but it sure was quick. "He has speed, but his form is horrible." The two watched Kakarot swing the sword a bit more before finally giving it a rest. He then looked back to Mai and Soba, waiting for further instruction. "Soba here is going to attack you with his sword. He's not going to try and hurt you, but it's best that you try your best to defend yourself, or you may get hurt accidentally. If he hits you in the right spot-which would be the wrong one in your case-then you might die. We don't need that right now."

Kakarot looked over to Soba, seeing he had both hands on the sword. The boy mirrored Soba's stance and waited. The dog was anxious, but he had no other choice in the matter. His little shoes could be heard tapping as they kicked up dust while he ran towards Kakarot, his sword cocked back.

Acting on instinct, Kakarot raised his sword up, just managing to block Soba's. Said dog tried to push forward, though Kakarot kept him at bay. He pulled his sword back and swung once more at Kakarot, who tried to block with his own yet again. If it worked before, why wouldn't it now? Soba surprisingly tricked him and quickly altered his movements, rendering the boy a nice slice to the shoulder pad. Kakarot quickly backed up, seeing he was stricken. He had both hands on the handle of the sword, hix anxiety near through the roof. He didn't see that coming at all.

"Gotcha!" Soba came at Kakarot once more and tried for a few more strikes. The three-year-old was on his toes, but he consistently managed to defend himself with his own. Soba did the basic slashes, being consistently blocked. He waited patiently for an opening before he decided to try another trick. He raised his sword up, coming down at Kakarot seemingly as hard as he could. The boy raised his sword in preparation, though Soba pulled his sword back and had the tip of it directed behind him. He struck Kakarot in the mid-section with the handle of his sword and had the boy double over.

"Gotcha again."

"You can't fall for such cheap antics," Mai yelled from afar. "Don't just wait, but read his movements."

The boy coughed a bit before standing back up. "Okay."

Soba smiled. "So he speaks." This was the first time he and Mai heard the boy actually form words. He got into his stance once more, ready to continue. "You ready, kid?"

Kakarot nodded. He mirrored Soba's stance and prepared himself. He made sure to do what Mai told him and read Soba's movements. The dog came at him once more, swinging away. The boy remained consistent and blocked all the sword attacks. Soba tried to strike him in the chest with the sword, though it was swatted away by Kakarot's weapon. He came at the boy from the right, though he faked him once more and decided to try for a direct stab. Kakarot saw this coming and swatted away Soba's sword once more, catching the dog off guard.

Getting on the offensive now, he tried to strike Soba, though it was swiftly. Kakarot pushed forward as hard as he could and made Soba fall down on his behind, dropping his sword in the process. As the dog was on the ground, he raised his weapon and got ready to deliver the next blow.

Soba started to panic, his eyes still on the boy. He tried to reach for his sword, but he couldn't manage to get a hold of it. His eyes began to shake as Kakarot started to come down on him.

"Enough," Mai said yelled. Kakarot stopped immediately and looked over to the young girl, who was smiling wide. "Good job. You're done with the sword training."

Soba got up quickly, sweating like a dog. "He's a quick learner, Mai." He had a sigh of relief.

"You could have killed him," Mai told Kakarot. "You don't want such a thing on your conscience, kid. I wouldn't advise you to do so if necessary." Other than that, Mai truly did like how quickly the boy was getting the hang of things. "So it looks like you can go a few lessons with learning how to use these bad boys too, yeah?" She dangled a pistol right before her.

Kakarot tossed the sword down and nodded. The boy didn't have a general idea why, but he was getting rather excited about all the use of weapons. Simple physical activity made his heart rush, but he loved it. This was much better than just eating all day. He could do this every day of the week if he so desired, as long as he kept learning and adapting, he had no problem doing it.

Mai could sense this and would definitely use this in her own favor.

* * *

Multiple hours had passed since the training of Kakarot had started. Being a quick learner, he got the grasp of how to use a sword as well as a gun without many problems. The heat from earlier was finally cooling down and the evening was just about to arrive. The moon had not yet shown itself, though it was in due time.

"Alright." Mai placed some bullets into her gun and aimed it for Kakarot. "Let's see just how good you are."

There was just one more test they had to do before they would end their training for the day. Soba himself wasn't all too sure about this. Mai would fire a couple of bullets at Kakarot and the boy would have to block them all with his sword. It was either redirect the bullets or get struck by them. She made sure to not hit him anywhere lethal, but if he were to get hit, then the pain would most surely be used as a motivator to not get stricken again. Besides that, the kid had an unordinary armor, something which was capable of taking a few slices. A bullet wouldn't do as much damage as it would if Kakarot didn't have it in the first place. She and Kakarot were all for it.

Mai had her finger on the trigger, ready to fire as Kakarot had his sword ready to swing. "Maybe we should do this another time," Soba said, trying to prevent a fatal scenario from happening. He knew Mai was mere seconds away from pulling the trigger and then it'd be up to the boy to make a result. Kakarot was okay with this, but more so due to the fact he wasn't aware of just how dangerous all of this was. For him, doing all of this was completely fine. If anything, it felt nice, especially his training session with Soba.

SHHHEEWW

An extreme amount of air came down on all three of them, just a couple dozen feet from the ground. All of them looked up, spotting Pilaf's airship. The vehicle took the shape of a bird-like animal, with its wings on the side and a spoiler on the back end. It was practically all black, and that was how Mai and Soba knew it was Pilaf.

Once the airship came down, Pilaf turned off the engine and got out. He had a box of capsules in hand, showing that he indeed did do a little shopping. "Alright, so I've got two months worth of food." He eyed Kakarot, hoping the boy would understand. "I've saved some for us for our trip over for tonight's mission. It'll take a couple of hours for us to get there."

"When will you be ready to leave?" Mai asked.

"I need to put the food in the castle. Did he do his training for today?"

"Yes."

"Great," Pilaf said. He began to walk over to the castle, which wasn't very far from where they were currently at. "I'll be back out in a bit."

Mai put her gun back into her holster that remained inside her trench coat. She looked back over to Soba, who nodded. The dog was the first to go ahead and enter the airship so they could get on with their mission.

"You ready?" Just simply by judging how easily Kakarot learned through his training, Mai was a bit more confident that he'd be ready to go out there. She was kind of nervous, but it came with the job. All Kakarot did was nod and followed Mai into the airship.

Inside, Mai, Pilaf, and Kakarot all sat at a roundtable. On the table was a basket of bread and fruits, which was being stared at by one of the three. "Alright, kid. When we go there, you may need to use your sword. There are many animals out there and we don't know what we might run into. We just have to be careful when we go out there." Mai grabbed a gun and handed it over to Kakarot, as well as a scabbard.

The gun was small, though he showed earlier that he was capable of handling such weapons. The scabbard and sword were pretty big compared to his size, though it wasn't anything he couldn't handle at all.

"Do you know where we could be going?" Soba asked.

Mai shook her head, not having any general idea. She knew that the missions they usually went on were very risky. She and Soba made sure to bring weapons every time just in case. All of their missions consisted of searching for the Dragon Balls, but journeying out to unknown places called for a risk. Nobody knew what would happen in the near future.

"So could it truly be over there?"

"I don't know," Mai said, answering Soba's question. "I hope so." She, Pilaf, and Soba had gotten together not too long ago exactly. They never revealed their exact past to one another, but all simply worked together. It seemed that the very same would apply with Kakarot, except it would take time for the boy to get accustomed to these new people.

The kid, looking at the basket full of food, starting to feel the urge of hunger eating at him. He slowly reached his hand at the basket, getting ready to grab for an entire breadstick. "

"UH-HUH!" Pilaf barged into the room, shaking his finger side to side. Kakarot stopped in his tracks and looked back up at the blue imp, eyes widened. "You don't get to eat until after the mission."

The boy hissed and took an apple anyway. Pilaf cocked his head a bit to the side, his eyes not breaking contact with the three-year old's. As he stared back at him, Kakarot slowly decreased the gap between the apple and his mouth, which he then opened. Pilaf just shook his head. Kakarot chowed down on the entire apple, smiling. The boy may be somewhat of a mute, but he sure as hell knew what he was doing.

"Mai, can you go read with him or something? Keep him from eating up all the food." He then looked back to Soba. "Go start up the airship so we could get going."

"Yes." Soba did as directed and headed into the front of the airship and got ready to send it up.

Mai looked around the room in the ship for a bit and back to Pilaf, following with a simple shrug. "I don't have any books to read to him."

Kakarot managed to comprehend a bit of what they were talking about him, though he didn't understand one hundred percent. Pilaf suddenly tossed a book over to Mai, who caught it on instinct. "Read that to him."

The book wasn't very small, something that seemed fit for a child. Mai looked at the title of the book and mouthed "The Two Frogs..."

"Go read it to him until we land," Pilaf said. He headed over to the front of the airship with Soba. For some reason, he found himself in quite an aggravated mood when around the boy, mostly because of the initial first impressions he was rendered by the kid. A scratch to the face mere seconds following a simple salutation wouldn't rub anyone well.

Mai was left in the room with Kakarot, who was simply looking at her, wagging his tail back and forth. The young girl sat in a chair by the table with the food basket. She looked over to the three-year-old, who simply remained stationary. His gaze from her didn't break yet. She opened the book and smacked her leg a couple times. Kakarot didn't get the signs and remained still, not getting what was being told to him. "Come. Sit."

The boy was hesitant but did so anyway. He crawled up Mai's leg and sat right on her lap. She opened the book and placed it before the boy's eyes so he could read it. It was only a few pages, but it seemed like something quick and easy-to Mai at least. She pointed at the first word of the book and said "Once..." and then she waited.

Kakarot stared at the book and didn't say a word. He expected Mai to continue and kept quiet. Things got a little awkward the moment that there was nothing but silence that filled the room. Mai pointed at the word again. "Say once. Once..."

Kakarot looked back at the word and repeated exactly what she told him to say. "Once..." The kid's tone of voice was low, though very high pitched. He spoke with no accent at all, so he was understood just fine.

Mai then continued to read. "Upon a time in the country of..."

"Upon a time in the country of..." those seven words were said perfectly without any mistakes at all. Mai was quite impressed with how quickly the boy was catching on. It relieved her a bit as it truly meant she wouldn't have much of a hard time actually teaching the kid to read at all. She knew he could speak, but he'd be reading like an expert in no time if he kept it up.

She continued to read with him for the rest of the ride until they reached their destination, where they would start their mission-the very first one with this new little boy on board.

* * *

The ride seemed to last forever as they constantly traveled through the sky. Some of the windows in Pilaf's airship let in some light with the shining stars. Mai was sitting down on the chair, her head slumped to the side with Kakarot sitting on her lap. Kakarot had the back of his head pressed against her stomach as he snored softly, letting out a small snot bubble here and there.

Both Pilaf and Soba came from the front, rubbing their eyes as they had just wakened up as well. "Tell them to wake up," Pilaf said to Soba. "We have a mission to carry out."

The dog did as told and neared them both. He placed his paw on Mai's shoulder and started to shake her just so he could wake the woman up. "Hey, Mai..." Being shaken a bit, Mai slowly began to open her eyes. Her mouth opened wide so she could yawn. She saw Soba in her face mouthing "it's time to get up." Everything was tuned out to her. Looking down, she saw Kakarot was still in her lap, sleeping.

The young girl rubbed her eyes and nodded, knowing what needed to be done. She reached for her pistol that remained on the dining table and placed it inside her trench coat. Soba went over to his scabbard that was set resting against the wall and put it over on his back. The entrance to the airship was open and so it was time to start the hunt.

Mai shifted herself a bit so she could get herself up. The slightest movement coming from her had woke the little boy up. He stretched out and yawned prior to setting foot on the surface of the ship. He was still somewhat tired, but he knew what had to be done.

Pilaf was right there before them. "You're all going to check within a one thousand meter radius of here. If you don't find a Dragon Ball, report back to me." His eyes then squinted. "You better find it, too..." He didn't say anything more and headed back inside the main room of the ship.

Mai held her gun in hand and cocked it back. She looked down on Kakarot, who had his own sword and gun as well. "You ready, kid?"

Kakarot looked up at her and nodded. The kid's heart was thumping hard against his chest. Peculiarly, it was more out of excitement rather than fear. From what he could see on the inside looking out, they were surrounded by nothing but trees and unknown animals in the dark woods. The only source of light was the moon, which was heavily covered by the dark clouds at the current moment.

Kakarot and Mai headed outside of the airship, nearing Soba, who was looking around and sniffing the air. As soon as the three were outside, the entrance to the airship had closed. Mai leaned in on Soba, the dog that continuously used his nose.

"What do you have?"

Soba took a deep breath, showing an expression of concern. The young dog knew they had no other choice but to continue with the mission or fail. "I can smell fresh meat..." he pulled out his sword. "I'm going to try and head the opposite direction of the smell."

"Should we split up?" Mai asked.

"I'll go alone," Soba informed Mai. "Just make sure that you and the boy are careful, okay?"

"Alright." Mai and Kakarot both headed West of the area while Soba headed East.

The constant walking was beginning to get on Mai's nerves. By now she would have hoped to find something, but got nothing. Constant branch snapping and leaves breaking was the only thing they heard as they journeyed deeper and deeper into the unsupervised area for the past hour now.

"We've been walking for at least one hundred yards by now." For the entire walk, her head had been constantly moving from left to right, in search of something in particular. "And we haven't found a glowing pebble that looks like a Dragon Ball." The girl smacked her lips, truly getting aggravated with this pointless search.

"Shhh..." Kakarot placed his hand in front of Mai's leg, preventing her from moving any more further. She looked at the little boy with her eyes wide, though totally silent, as Kakarot was at the moment. For the walk, Kakarot had been keeping his eyes ahead. For some reason, he could naturally see better in the dark and was careful with his own steps. Having just heard something from afar, he seized all movement.

"Did you hear something?" Mai asked. The boy was still like he was frozen in place. The moment he heard a faint noise, he jumped around. Mai was getting more concerned with the lack of communication going on between them, the silence making it even worse. "What is it?" she asked, holding her gun carefully with her two hands.

Kakarot remembered the simple training he had just gotten not long ago. The boy pulled out one sword and had one gun in hand, the weapon almost just as big as his entire head, but he knew he could handle it. "animal..." the kid whispered.

The growls of a wolf could be heard within the distance. Mai's eyes nearly popped as she saw the colored eyes of the animal approaching her, as well as many others. Fear began to consume her.

As for Kakarot, it was excitement and anticipation that he felt. "M-maybe we should get out of here?" Mai backed continued to back up as the feral wild animals slowly began to close in on the two, having them both encircled in the middle of nowhere.

The dominant male was the one to near them both, being much closer than the others were. Mai had to stop, not wanting to collide into one of the wolves. Kakarot could feel the presence of the wolves, all of them huffing and growling. The alpha of the pack saw that there were only two small victims and no more than that. Seeing as to how they wouldn't be capable of doing much to them all, he raised his snout into the sky and let out a resonant howl, calling all of the other members of the pack.

"There's five on my side," Mai told Kakarot as her back was facing his back.

"me 3," Kakarot said, referring to the number that he had to worry about. The kid understood the language but wasn't the absolute best at speaking it-yet. Regardless of that matter, he was prepared to fight. In the back of the little boy's head, he remembered the same day he arrived on this planet and came to face up against a sabretooth, which he was sure to die against. Now even though there was a pack of wolves on their tail, this would end differently-it just had to.

TECHEE!

All of the wolves began to run towards them at once. The moment that all of the wolves made movement, gunfire could be heard out in the middle of the area. The cries of victimized wolves sounded out in the distance as Kakarot easily slain all of those that came at him, not even bothering to use the gun he had in the opposite hand.

The noises carried on for a short while before all of it suddenly stopped. Mai stood there, heaving for breath. This was the first time she had ever been on such a mission. Sure, others were risky but not as menacing as this. She had the urge to simply grab Kakarot by his hand and run away, but the moment she noticed that he wouldn't bother to do so, she figured she had no other choice in the matter.

The three-year-old boy had spots of blood on his face, the majority of the red coloring having tainted his sword, which was dripping it by the second. Mai fell to her knees, one of the fallen wolves right at her. "T-They almost bit me...!" she was in a partial state of shock, not believing what had just transpired.

The little boy tapped Mai on her shoulder, breaking the young girl out of her personal disturbance. "Huh?" She looked back to Kakarot, seeing that he was giving her the weapon. "me no need."

"Oh...o-okay." She grabbed the gun as she stood up, putting it into a pocket of her trench coat, that being her two holsters were already filled.

The young boy put his bloody sword back into his scabbard and began to head back in the direction of where they came from. He picked up two wolves and placed them over his shoulder, grunting as he carried the heavy animals. "Me no think there be ball here. I want food, so I have wolfeses. We go back to blue person now."

"Fine by me," Mai said. "But we need to find Soba, first. I can put the wolves in a capsule for us to cook later if you want."

"Okay."

The two continued their path looking for Soba. Mai grabbed a walkie-talkie and spoke through it. "Soba, come in. Do you hear me? Over." She waited for a response as she walked with Kakarot still.

A static sound over the walkie-talkie came about. Heavy breaths were heard before any voices came out. Without a doubt, Soba was more than likely in some sort of panic at the moment. "G-Guys...I have a big problem here...over."

"What is it, Soba?" Mai asked. "Over."

"There are at least 3 wolf packs here, all ten or more, fighting over me." He gulped loudly. "I'm in a tree and they're all trying to get to me now. Oh godd..."

"Why he no use sword?" Kakarot asked. For him, that was all he needed to get rid of the wolf threats.

"We need to find Soba now," Mai said. "We should keep heading East and we'll get to him eventually." She took off in a hurry, Kakarot quickly following.

The little Saiyan boy passed her up with his light feet. Looking behind he motioned Mai to keep up. "me smell the dogs. follow me."

Mai nodded and tried her best to speed up. The two were breezing through the woods, hurdling over toppled thick branches as well as trees, avoiding any danger in the process. It seemed like it'd be forever until they finally would manage to reach where Soba was.

"H-how much longer?" Mai was beginning to sweat, not sure if she'd be able to go on any longer. It was shocking to her that a simple boy could carry the weight of a sword and still be able to run this fast, seemingly not able to lose any energy in the process.

On cue, Kakarot came to a halt. The boy planted his feet into the ground, sliding through the leaves, snapping countless branches. Mai stopped as soon as he stopped and crouched over to catch her breath. With their sudden distraction, all of the wolves in the area turned around and looked at the two new people.

"You're here!" Soba exclaimed, voice full of relief.

"I-it doesn't make this situation any better," Mai said. She got a good look and saw all of the vicious animals were ready to attack while some others were still barking up the tree Soba was in. "We have a problem..."

The wolves slowly started to close in on them. "You have to do something, guys!" Soba said.

"Use your sword!" Mai shouted back, pulling out two of her own guns.

"I can't!" Soba pointed down. "See?" His finger showed a wolf pierced by a sword, lying down, dead. "One and done. If I go down there to get it, I'm dead meat!"

With a lot more enemies than last time, Kakarot found himself a bit anxious, but all the more excited. The kid truly had no idea why, but it had to be apart of who he was. "Go back," the boy said.

"W-what?" Mai asked. "What do you mean?"

"Go to blue guy," the boy said, trying to be as specific as possible.

"Who is blue guy?" Soba asked.

"Pilaf!" Mai responded. "But we can't!" She quickly turned around, seeing more of the wolves encircling them. "They've got us trapped like last time."

Kakarot gulped. Now, things were beginning to get bad. He knew it'd be hard to take them all on, with or without the help of Mai, but he knew that he had to try. The dark clouds from below no longer covered the illumination of the moon, which shone brightly on this very area.

Thump Thump

Thump Thump

The heaviness of Kakarot's heartbeat had intensified. His tail tensed up, every little piece of fur standing up on his back. There was the urge to do something, but what-he didn't know.

"GRRRR!" Some of the wolves couldn't wait anymore and simply bounced up.

"Here, Soba!" Mai threw one of the guns in her hand at the dog and quickly pulled the one Kakarot given her moments ago and started to shoot.

Kakarot went on the offensive as well, pulling out his blood tainted sword as he ran towards the feral animals. The kid gave one swing, slicing the paws of two wolves. He covered his face with his arm, which was bitten by one of them. "Aghk...!"

"I've gotcha!" Soba aimed the weapon for the wolf attacking Kakarot and shot it dead.

The little boy knocked the wolf back and pierced another one with his sword, having to knock one away from behind using his tail in the process.

CLICK

"Dammit!" Mai threw the pistols away. She managed to refrain from being touched, but now she was seen as completely defenseless. "There's still about ten of these beasts..." her eyes grew wide and shaky. Were these going to be the last moments of her life?

"I give you sword!" Kakarot shouted.

"Huh?" Mai shifted her body around to face Kakarot. The moment she turned, the bloody sword Kakarot had used was coming right for her. She reacted on impulse, grabbed the sword, and turned around. She swung the sword in the process and got two wolves that had tried to attack while her back was facing them. They had both fallen and now she was ready to take on some more.

Click!

"I'm out..." Soba said. He silently cursed to himself and looked back down.

After all the slaughter, some of the wolves began to back up, a bit more defensive now. None had expected such a force like this upon seeing a little girl and a smaller boy, who looked like easy food. They stopped attacking and lowered themselves, though their eyes never left the two.

Mai was breathing heavily, as was Kakarot. "Give me sword," Kakarot said. Mai nodded and slowly moved the sword behind her back. Kakarot grabbed it. As soon as the kid did so, he turned around and appeared in front of Mai, slicing the other wolves as well. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her behind him and off the ground, sending her flying past the wolves. She slid on the ground for a bit before getting back to her feet. Kakarot looked up at Soba and pointed at Mai. "Leave with girl!"

"Yes!" Soba hopped off the tree branch and started running as fast as he possibly could. He grabbed Mai by the hand and started to run with her. "We have to go!"

"But what about the bo-"

"He'll be fine!" Soba said. "Come on!"

Kakarot was now finally left alone, left with some dozen wolves to slay by himself. The slaughter of the other wolves meant nothing to those that were still alive now. 2 of the 3 threats were gone and only one was left, and he didn't have a sword.

Kakarot didn't understand what this grave urge was, but he decided to finally give in. The kid looked up into the sky, his eyes directly fixed on the light of the full circle of the shining moon. For the first time ever in his life had he done such a thing.

The wolves all howled once more prior to attacking. Those howls would be their last.

* * *

It was now morning and the sounds of a rampaging beast had finally come to an end. Pilaf, Mai, and Soba were all in the airship, scouting out for where Kakarot could possibly be.

The trio was dumbfounded at the amount of damage one simple child turned beast was able to do. Trees were knocked over, some even burnt to a crisp. The entire woods couldn't even be given such a label anymore. What used to be known as the woods had been something converted into an area that would be long forgotten. All the natural wildlife perished at the hands of the Oozaru beast; none had a chance, not even as they tried to flee.

"There he is!" Mai said, pointing out with her finger. She was looking at the child through her binoculars. She noticed the same old green peculiar armor from anywhere.

"He's not that thing is he?" Soba asked, a bit worried.

"No," Mai said. "He's eating."

From the very moment Kakarot woke up, the kid made him a fire and took any fallen animal he seen and cooked it on a stick. The kid had no recollection of what happened the previous night once he took a little look at the moon, which was no doubt his burning urge. The boy didn't care now. All the threats were gone and he could only think of obtaining anything that would manage to fill his belly.

"Hey!" Mai shouted from above.

Kakarot heard the familiar voice and immediately stopped shoving his mouth with foods of the animals he pulverized under the conscience of the beast. He stood up and swallowed down a piece of wolf meat. A smile came way to the kid's face as he had primarily surmised that they had all abandoned him. He figured that they used him for one pointless mission and left him in the dust, somewhat similar to what he also felt his parents did, though he didn't understand.

Seeing the smile of relief on Mai's face had made Kakarot smile, too. He'd be headed back home with them.

* * *

The trip back to the castle was long and it was past noon now. Pilaf sat on his throne, peeling an orange with a small knife. Before him were Mai, Kakarot, and Soba each lined up with one another. He had a very disappointed look on his face. "I send you out to do one thing and it all blows out of proportion." He looked at them. "One of you owe me an explanation."

"Pilaf," Soba started. "There were no Dragon Balls."

"Really now?" Pilaf asked.

"We walked around for miles, but we didn't find any. Even after what happened last night, we tried to look and couldn't find it. We searched far longer than what you told us and came up with nothing."

"Hnp." Pilaf placed the orange peels in a silver bowl and started to cut some of the pieces to eat. "I don't care. A failed mission is a failed mission. And you know punishment comes with that."

Mai and Soba lowered their heads in disappointment. "Yes..."

Pilaf pulled out a little rectangle white colored device with one blue button dead smack in the center of it.

Once the button was pressed, an electric shock surrounded Mai and Soba, which had them shaking in their boots. The two had a very hard time holding it together, but a failed mission came with a price, so they accepted it. Kakarot watched as the two were going through a pain, some type of pain. He understood not what it was, though he knew it was something. He noticed Mai was hurting bad and the kid wasn't liking it one bit.

Pilaf didn't stop and had the button pressed with his elbow, now that the device rested on his golden armchair. He sat there, peeling his orange and eating it piece by piece. The little boy's tail started to wag as a mix of emotions began to stir. "Stop!" Kakarot yelled.

"Eh?" Pilaf jumped suddenly at the boy's voice. The electric shock stopped, letting both Mai and Soba fall to their knees to catch their breath. He noticed the boy was somewhat upset, growling with a clenched fist.

"No hurt them," Kakarot said. "are family..."

Pilaf chuckled. "And who do you think you are to call the shots, little boy? Just so you know, they decided to follow me on my own personal mission of obtaining the Dragon Balls, so what they get is because of their choices! And as for you, we could have let you stay in that little pod we found you in. Hell, I could have fed you to the wolves if I so wanted. But no...Mai wanted to." He pressed the button again, reinitiating their punishment once more.

Kakarot walked up the little steps to Pilaf's throne and yanked the device out of his hand. "We are team. We are family. We no hurt us!" He squinted his eyes and got in Pilaf's face, growling. "we work together..."

Seeing the kid up so close, Pilaf got to smell the breath of the animals he had consumed. He noticed some of the blood on the kid's rather sharp teeth and gulped. He got flashbacks of the beast from last night, remembering what Kakarot was all capable of. He was scared but knew better than to lose his cool.

"Fine, brat. Have it your way."

Kakarot threw the device against the wall, breaking it to pieces. He turned around to face Mai and Soba, who was sweating furiously. "Me need food." The kid walked down the steps and decided to find his way near the kitchen.

Pilaf was seething with rage inside. A simple three-year-old boy comes out of nowhere and pulls off this kind of mess? He indeed did want to do something but knew better than that. From what he was told by Kakarot killing wolves and seeing the beast for himself, Pilaf knew it'd be smart to simply comply. Let Kakarot think they were a team and continue using the boy for his own selfish plans. He might need the kid's power in the future. He never knew.

Mai and Soba were both equally left dumbfounded. They looked at Pilaf, who just kept eating his orange, not even speaking a word. "I-I'll go check up on the boy."

"Yeah, you do that," Pilaf said, shooing Mai away.

Kakarot was in the kitchen yet again, munching down on food after food. Bread was out, as well as the meats and condiments. He only stopped eating when his stomach said he couldn't anymore. Those wolves he cooked wasn't enough, nor quite tasty for him, so he needed something more delectable.

"Hey." Kakarot looked to his left and at Mai, mouth full. He swallowed his food and hopped down from the table, landing on the floor. He just looked up at her. Mai went over to the counter in the kitchen and got a napkin. She gave it to Kakarot and signaled that the boy use it to wipe his mouth. "I appreciate what you did. You know, if it weren't for you, then we'd probably be dead meat."

"Ahuh." Kakarot balled the napkin up and tossed it behind his head, letting it fall to the floor where other packages of food were.

"Even though we just got you the other day...I need to know. What is your name?"

"Name?" Kakarot asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yes," Mai said. "Name." She pointed to herself. "For example, I am Mai. The dog is Soba and the blue guy is Pilaf. Those are our names. That is what people call us."

The boy finally understood. He had to think on what his name for a second. He recalled moments where his mother, father, or brother would call him Kakarot; so that's what he said: "Kakarot."

"Ka...kur...rot?"

The boy nodded, confirming her question. "Me name is Kakarot." He giggled.

"Hehe." Mai looked around for a bit and then looked back at the boy. "Kakarot...do you remember what happened last night?"

The kid looked at the floor for a split moment before nodding his head. "The wolfeses attacked."

"Wolves," Mai corrected. "But do you remember what happened after that? You don't remember you turning into the beast?"

Kakarot shook his head. "After I look at moon, me no know what happen."

Mai rubbed her cheek, pondering on it. "Then that has to be it. Whenever you look at the moon, you must turn into it...but you don't remember what happened. Is that right?"

"Me think so," Kakarot answered.

"Okay." Mai stood up. "Whenever you're done, clean this mess up, okay? After, I'm going to draw you a bath and we'll continue with our reading. Sound good?"

Kakarot nodded, partially understanding what Mai had just told him. Once the girl had left the room, the kid was now alone again. No longer did he have an appetite for eating, but he just recalled those words his mother spoke to him before sending him off.

'Remember...you musn't look up at the moon for too long...'

While he didn't understand all of what he truly was, Kakarot now knew a bit more about himself, his own people. The boy just wished he knew more than that.

He'd only have to wait a couple decades to find out all.


	55. Surprise of the Past

The monitor supervising the constant heartbeat of the current ailing Saiyan was heard in the medical room. Chi-Chi was still very worried over her husband, as were a few others. She had the support of Dedana, Pilaf, and Videl at the current moment, which assuaged her high levels of distress for Kakarot.

"He seems to be doing better," Videl pointed out. While the others were more so concerned over the man's health, none of them really paid a great amount of attention to how he was doing exactly. The little girl not only looked over the heart monitor every now and then but scrutinized his non-verbal movements from time to time.

"I certainly hope so," Soba said. He hoped by the end of this, the nightmares would be all over. He couldn't stand seeing Kakarot in such condition, though he felt that the Saiyan needed to know that he was still there for him, even after so many years.

Videl neared the healing tank in which the Saiyan male was in. For the first time, she managed to get a much closer look at the man called Ox's father. She looked over his facial structure and couldn't believe how similar it was to his own son's. "Ox looks so much like him. It's weird."

"His genes are strong," Chi-Chi said. The woman looked down at her belly and rubbed it for a while. "I hope I have a girl."

"You're gonna have another baby?!" Pilaf exclaimed, yelling at the top of his lungs. He couldn't believe it, another child, from Kakarot. "So that means I'll be the uncle of two kids. Heh!"

Chi-Chi smiled softly. "If it's a girl, then she won't be a fighter at all. If it's a boy, I probably won't be able to convince Kakarot to not train the kid for the life of me."

"It'd be nice to have a little girl," Dedana said. She could only imagine the type of fun she'd have with a younger girl, somewhat like a sister, to hang out with.

"If you were to have a daughter, Ox's dad might be very protective of him." She turned around, her back now facing Kakarot. "I know my dad is."

"But that's natural," Soba said. "Good parents are protective over their own in general."

"My father sort of was, too." Chi-Chi said. Having to think of old memories with her father back then put a smile on her face. Most of the memories she thought of were good, none rarely bad. Never did she contemplate on the death of her father, as that was a subject that would push her into sadness for a while-even just the thought of it.

The room was filled with silence for a brief moment, a warm comfort finally making way into the atmosphere. Now things seemed as if they weren't just as bad. Kakarot was doing fine and the others were all working on a cure that'd help him come back to full health.

Besides there being a medical room used for helping individuals in need retain healthy conditions, there was also a research lab in all of the entire building on this planet Kakarot now proclaimed as his own. Dr. Sucidem had various test tubes and flasks on the white counters in this room. He looked over everything carefully, hoping that he managed to do his tests just right. So far he managed to develop a concoction of an assuaging liquid, though nothing that would cure Kakarot's disease entirely.

Constant tapping could be heard over the computers, by Bulma and her father. As Dr. Sucidem went over the subjects, Bulma and her father figured they would help out by doing some research of their own, also implicating some of their medicines from earth with the ones from this world as well as many others to come up with further solutions.

Ox and Mark just looked at them go, seeing the scientists all work like clockwork. None wasted any time at all-except for Dr. Briefs, who'd pause to light a new cigarette. Besides form that, the trio all worked diligently.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Dr. Sucidem's head shifted over his right shoulder. He looked at a monitor attached to the white wall. The monitor was hooked up with the computers in the healing room Kakarot was in just to keep track of his well being. "He's having a heart attack."

"We still don't have the cure yet," Dr. Briefs said. The man stopped typing for a bit and went over to a couple of flasks. He picked one up and poured a purple juice inside there.

"Then that will have to do for now," Bulma said, referring to the liquid her father had in hand.

"Here, son." Dr. Briefs handed the flask to Ox, who took it without hesitation. The kid didn't ask any questions and started to head out the room.

"Don't be in such a rush, boy." Dr. Sucidem had Ox stop before he could exit the room. He read from a few pages in a book of his own and went back to testing some more. All the while, he made sure to speak at Ox. "I understand that matters are urgent, but pace yourself. You were about to head in there without knowing what to really do."

"What do I do, then?" Ox asked. The kid didn't want to waste any time and just wanted to tend to his father as soon as possible to stop the pain.

"There is a pad in the healing tank in which can be opened. There will be a couple of colored holes inside. You put just a bit of the liquid inside of the grey colored hole. There it will go through the oxygen machine attached to your father's face. It will eventually open up holes inside and enter his mouth and down into his system. Just a little bit. The liquid won't cure his condition, but it will help assuage the pain. We may need to use this on more than one, possibly two occasions, so make sure to spare it once you give him some. Understood?"

Ox nodded. The kid internalized every detail as he knew one slight mistake could mean the end of his father's life. He wanted to make sure to avoid this scenario at all costs. Once Dr. Sucidem was done speaking, the boy took off on his quick feet, now knowing what to do.

In the room, Chi-Chi and the others were worried yet again. Kakarot was shaking inside of the healing tank as bubbles from his breathing formed all throughout. It was obvious that the man was in constant pain, but none knew what to do.

"He was just doing fine!" Chi-Chi cried out. "Why again...?"

Dedana had both her hands on the woman's shoulders, massaging her as much as she could. In times like these, moments of panic simply wasn't necessary. "He should calm down soon," Videl spoke out. "...I hope."

"Man, oh man..." Soba was biting his nails. "He's probably internally screaming like a madman. Just look at him..." Pilaf shuttered at the thought "...shaking."

Ox barged into the room, breathing heavily. The kid ran as fast as he could without bumping into any other soldiers within the building. "I-I can help!" He raised the flask given to him by Dr. Briefs.

As for Kakarot himself, the man was still very well sleep, though a great amount of pain could be felt as he was dreaming.

* * *

It was dark, very dark out. Seeing through his own eyes many years ago, he knew exactly where he was. But things felt weird. It was never this dark. Before, the light of the full moon basked onto the area, providing some type of light. But not this time.

Before him were Pilaf, Soba, and Mai. The Saiyan's heart was beating heavily. Mai and Soba both had swords out, their eyes completely red. Pilaf was behind the two, his blue fingers pointed directly at Kakarot.

'Traitor...! Traitor!'

They constantly repeated these words. Here he was, reliving one of the worst memories of his life, though whatever this was, never happened. Events were being exaggerated. Kakarot had done a lot of things in his past to put all of this behind him, but they were somehow being brought up yet again. For what he knew not, but there had to be an explanation. He could feel the pain in his chest but wasn't capable of doing anything about it. He tried all he could to wake himself, though to no avail.

Mai and Soba continuously glided towards him, their swords still pointed at him. Kakarot could feel the sword he held in his hands at the time but wasn't capable of moving a muscle. Mai, the person he most admired was about to attack him as he remained defenseless. Soba, the one he secretly respected, began thrusted his sword back as well.

"No!" was the sound of Kakarot's voice, his tone of voice being the one he had when he was a kid. This wasn't supposed to happen. Everything that transpired that night did not end like this. What was going on?

Everything.

Black.

He was in a void, an endless and dark void. Nothing was surrounding him. He just looked up, floating. His eyes were open, yes, but everything was dark. Suddenly, a little light showed before him. There stood two figures-one tall and one insanely short. He was incapable of making out whom these people were, whom more than likely were individuals that he never seen in his lifetime, but he could see the devilish grins plastered on their faces.

"We'll be seeing you...Kakarot...ehehehehehe..."

The dark light shot from the distance, and everything went black again. No longer did Kakarot feel the excruciating pain in his chest and simply closed his eyes. He was finally able to drift off back to sleep, though no longer was he dreaming. He was simply resting...for now.

* * *

"He's finally calmed down."

Ox had just done all of what he was directed by Dr. Sucidem, though it took a couple of minutes for the effect to happen. It was apparent that Kakarot was now sleeping peacefully without any pain now, even though the absence of agony was only temporary.

"It worked." Ox put the flask down, which now had less purple liquid than before. He placed a small white cloth to cover it just in case.

"Was that the cure?" Pilaf asked, hoping it was all over.

"No," Ox said. "It's just something that'll help dad with the pain. We have to keep it until they come up with a cure."

Chi-Chi touched her chest and let out a deep breath. With such a thing, then she didn't have to worry about Kakarot being in such pain anymore as much. "Tell them to hurry up, please."

"You can't just tell them to hurry, mom," Ox said. "Coming up with stuff like this is more of a gradual process than you think. With this pain assuaging drink, then it should be able to hold off the agony until they get the cure. Until then, we just need to be patient." He walked by his mom and touched her shoulder. "He'll come out of this, right, mom?"

Chi-Chi's eyes broke away from her son's, now gazing at the white, pristine floor. She hesitated before responding, which inserted an ounce of doubt into her son. Chi-Chi and everyone else in the room could feel it. A little smile then showed on her face. She had to think of all the times when Kakarot went through hell. She saw it for the very first time when he fought with Piccolo the very same day Ox was born. He went through physical hell that day, but he kept on pushing. If that wasn't able to stop him, then Chi-Chi found her little glimmer of hope. This wasn't going to stop him either. A bit more confident, she looked back at Ox and rubbed his cheeks. "He'll be alright, Ox. I promise."

Ox smiled. Even though the boy was tough for his age, he still needed some type of validation from his parents, being a child and all. As long as either his mother or father, whatever the situation called for, were positive then he had hope as well. "I'm going to get something to eat. You guys wanna come?"

"For sure," Soba said. "I could get my grub on right about now and get away from this gloomy place. It's making my heart ache."

"How do you know where the dining room is?" Videl asked.

"I'll show you guys," Dedana said, walking towards the exit. "Just follow me."

* * *

The fresh smell of grass was out and about in the fields. Farming had just gotten done and a good meal had been eaten just over thirty minutes ago.

A bright light came passing by Tien. The three-eyed warrior simply moved his head a bit to the side, evading a Dodon-Pa from his training partner. The little guy stuck out his other index finger, firing far more simultaneously.

Tien used his multi-form technique, now there being four exact replicas of him. The one dead center of the four smacked away the Dodon-pas coming from Chaotzu prior to hopping back a couple of meters. The other three all slid to the side, forming a single file line.

"Really, Tien?" Chaotzu closed his eyes, his concentration now reaching higher levels. He and Tien had fought long enough and he got a feel for who the real person was. All it required was the mastery of mind. The little guy opened his eyes and raised his hands.

A couple dozen yards from afar in the field, multiple plywoods elevated into the sky. Four of them came zooming at the four different persons. Three of them were chopped in half, though another one was grabbed and tossed back to where it came from.

Chaotzu smiled, having found his target. "Gotcha!" He hopped off the ground and powered up with a brief yell. "Kaio-Ken!" Once the bright red aura engulfed him, he took off for Tien. The real Tien was still in the formed single file line, though he was in the middle of them all. Chaotzu came for him faster than he could realize and wound up receiving a vicious head-butt to the chest. Tien went sliding, tripping the clone behind him. He hopped off the ground and rendered a clone behind him a back kick, sending the man flying over his own head. He grabbed another by the arm and tossed him over to where Tien was, having them all come back together as one.

The red aura Chaotzu used was gone prior to him setting foot back on land. Tien got up from his back, rather slowly whilst holding his chest. "Cough, cough! Hehehe. How'd you figure out it was me?"

"I had a feeling that you had to be somewhere in the back," Chaotzu replied. "I used my telekinesis by sending the wood at you because I know you find those too valuable to simply chop up because they were already perfectly cut."

Tien wasn't astonished by his friend's fighting smarts, but he'd be lying if he said that he saw that coming. "Hm." He neared Chaotzu and walked past him, crouched down and picked up his hat. "You forgot something."

Chaotzu caught his lost hat that Tien tossed over to him. "Thanks. I didn't even notice that I lost it."

"Ahuh." Tien then crossed his arms. "That should be enough training for today." He remained silent for a brief moment before he began to go into deep thought. They had finished cropping, everything was clean and tidy. The animals were fed, as well were they. And lastly, they got their training out of the way. "What else could we do?" Taking a break from thinking, he looked back to where Chaotzu was-or where he last saw him. The triclops was somewhat dumbfounded to not have noticed Chaotzu moved. Feeling for Chaotzu's ki, he could sense that he was within very close proximity, though not alone.

"Look who came over, Tien!" Chaotzu called out from a different area.

Tien did so and didn't expect to see Launch there. She showed up in a plain ole' yellow shirt with cut jeans, just a couple yards down from her glutes. Behind her was a car, which she had shown up in. Her blue hair certainly matched the color of the car, which was equal for sure. "Hey, Tien!" she said excitedly, waving at him.

Tien had not anticipated such an arrival, but he wasn't complaining. "Hey, Launch." He neared her and Chaotzu. "What brings you over here?"

"Well, just dropping by. I was wondering if you guys were up to anything today."

Tien looked at Chaotzu, who simply stared at him. Both had already gone over their duties and could feel themselves having the same exact answer in their own heads. "No," Tien told Launch. "We just finished doing everything we had planned today, actually."

Hearing this made Launch somewhat excited, though the woman kept her cool. "So that means you're free?" she stood on her tippy toes a bit, hoping the answer to her question would be yes.

Tien scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah, I guess."

The blue-haired woman's eyes lit up. "Great! Look, there's this new movie that came out and everyone's going to go see it. A lot of people say it's really good, so I wanted to see it, too. I was hoping you guys could tag along."

Tien wasn't all too sure about that one. There was a reason why he chose to reside in a remote area to live a rather mundane, but unalloyed simple life. He knew himself very well and realized he wasn't very well a city person, even though his people skills were basic, he found himself at much more ease in bucolic settings.

He was going to go ahead and politely decline Launch's offer, but Chaotzu opened his mouth before he was able to. "Of course!" Chaotzu said, a hint of animation in his voice. Launch's hopes were all the way, just as Chaotzu's was. The little guy then looked back to Tien, smiling wide. "Can we go, Tien?"

If Tien were to say no, then Chaotzu would without a doubt stay with Tien, despite how disappointed he would be. Love and respect never had to be verbalized between Chaotzu and Tien. Said martial artist knew that it would make Chaotzu's day and he preferred his best friend-whom he considered more a brother-to be happy. He couldn't take that away from Chaotzu. "Yeah, sure. We don't have anything else to do, so why not?"

"Yes!" Chaotzu raised his fist into the air, unknowingly hovering off the ground as well.

Launch grabbed Chaotzu and placed the guy on her shoulder. "Well, if you're going to go to the movies, you can't go like that. Hehe."

Tien looked down, not realizing what Launch was referring to. Here Tien saw for himself that he was wearing a cut up and dirty muscle shirt. Unlike Chaotzu, he tended to do most of the dirty work. "Oh. I'll go change."

"As much as I'd love to have you going like that, people might look at you weird."

"Heh." Tien turned around, quickly hiding his flustered face. The man wasn't used to subliminal compliments, especially ones of flirtation, but he could catch one when it was tossed to him. He slowly ascended just a couple yards off the ground prior to dashing over to the house so he could change.

* * *

The sound of a car zooming through the busy streets of South city was fairly common, though Launch wasn't driving through the streets. With the money she more than likely did not legally earn (due to her bad ego), she got one of the more fancier cars, the ones that could actually go quite a few ten feet high off the ground.

She drove as Tien was on the passenger side and Chaotzu sat in the backseat, taking in the cool breeze from the ride. Tien made sure to dress himself up into something more socially acceptable. He had on a simple white shirt and some green jeans. The white-shirt fit him perfectly, revealing the bulging chest he had as well as all the other muscles in his body. One would think it too tight from the outside looking in, but for Tien, the fit was all very accommodating. The green jeans were a bit out, but that was just natural coloring for him. Even after all these years, he had something of his teachings in the Crane school with him. It wasn't intentional, but just something out of old customs, which was more than likely from the sub-conscience.

In the car, Tien noticed a duffle bag, more than one actually. One of them was left just a bit open. Through there he saw nothing but the color of green. It was filled from top to bottom and from the left to right sides of the bag. "I see you have enough money to live on for a good while, huh?"

"Huh?" Launch took a quick look behind her. Once she saw the duffle bag, she realized what Tien was speaking of. "Oh! Yeah. One day I was at the bank to get a loan. I come out to just find all of that there."

"Yeah...right..." Tien decided not to ask anymore.

During the drive, Launch pressed the gas a bit more, increasing the speed, thus shortening the time it would take to reach the cinema. "I hope we're the first ones there so we can get front row seats." She had her mind not on the movie, but Tien as well. The woman couldn't wait. Due to going at a faster velocity, the pressures to the wind heightened. It took a while, but it eventually got to Launch, who felt something coming on to her. "Ah...ah..." her head cocked back.

"Uh-oh..." Chaotzu said from behind.

"ACHOO!"

The blue hair Launch had reverted to complete blonde, her wide eyes had also narrowed the moment she sneezed. She sniffled her nose and wiped it for a bit. That sneeze was kind of loud. Driving, she looked to her right, seeing Tien. She checked her mirror to see Chaotzu in the back and smiled.

"Say, I was gonna pick up you two goons a while ago! Heh, looks like I gotcha, huh?"

"Yeah, we're going to the movies!" Chaotzu said.

"Yeah," Launch said. "I been planning on going with you two for a while now."

"Just what movie are we going to watch?" Tien asked, quite curious.

"It's a movie about a blind samurai," Launch said. "I don't know all the details, but I really don't care. It's a Rated 18 film, so I'm just in it for the blood, hahaha!"

"Hey, that's kind of cool," Chaotzu called out. "A blind samurai?" He looked over to Tien, his interest on the concept very high. "Do you think that such a thing could really exist?"

Tien was quiet for a moment, thinking about it. It didn't take a while as he then nodded his head. "It makes sense to me, Chaotzu. As a warrior, one doesn't need their eyes for battle. They just need to have a feel for the field and their opponent. What they don't have for eyes can be made up for his other heightened senses."

"He could be a master of ki!" Chaotzu theorized.

Tien grinned. "That'd be something."

"Yeah, yeah," Launch mocked. The woman lowered her car down into a parking space below, just behind a giant cinema building. She killed the engine as she turned the keys of the car. "Remember, it's just a movie, guys," she said as she got some money from her duffle bag, countless stacks of cash. "None of it is real life."

"I'm not one for movies," Tien said, "but I know that there are many hidden messages in them that the average person does not tend to see. Maybe instead of just looking at it for entertainment, we should try and find the messages being subliminally conveyed."

"Whatever!" Launch smacked her lips. She exited the door, as did both Tien and Chaotzu.

In the parking space, there were dozens of cars surrounding them all. All Launch had to do was take one look around before she silently cursed in her head. "Goddammit!"

"What's wrong?" Chaotzu asked.

"We're later than I hoped to be. That means that people already got tickets for the movie that's about to start, so it also means that we're not likely to have front row seats."

"That's fine," Tien said. "I'm sure everyone will be able to see the screen."

"That's not the fucking point," Launch hissed. The woman's eyes widened immediately after realizing to whom she was speaking. She quickly rendered Tien a soft jab to the shoulder, chuckling nervously. "Sorry, Tien. I didn't mean to go off on you like that." The agitated woman proceeded to walk behind her car, opening up the trunk. "I know just how we'll get our front row seats." She reached in and grabbed a small pistol. "It may not look like much, but this baby sure as hell packs a punch." She cocked the pistol prior to placing it inside her bra. She closed the trunk and began to walk towards the entrance of the cinema. "Let's go watch a movie."

Chaotzu took the liberty of hopping atop Tien's shoulder as they all neared the entrance. As they got closer to the booth, some people were just entering the building. Some placed themselves in a short line to retrieve something to eat for the movies they were gonna watch and some just headed inside to watch a movie.

Once it was Launch's turn to get up to the booth, she was greeted. "Hey, mam. What movie would you like to watch today?"

"The blind Samurai," Launch responded. "For all three of us."

The older lady nodded and got right to work. Before she could get the three tickets, as well as come up with the money needed for them to be permitted inside the cinema, she took a look at the guy sitting on Tien's shoulders. "Uhm, mam. I wouldn't suggest that your child watch an R rated movie for 18."

"I'm not a child," Chaotzu said, quite offended. "I'll have you know that I'll be thirty in a couple of years."

The woman was taken aback, though she said nothing else in respect to that. She got the tickets and told Launch what she had to pay. Once the woman was given the money, she nodded. "Have a nice time."

"Yeah, you old hag. I bet we'll be having more fun than you." She chuckled as she walked in.

Tien quietly mouthed 'sorry' as he entered inside with Launch and Chaotzu. The old lady at the booth pressed her lips and simply shook her head. "Youngsters these days. Who the hell do they think they are?"

Once Launch entered the first area to get their snacks, she looked inside the glass, which displayed all of what they could get. A smirk appeared on her face as she realized she could buy practically everything in their with the money she stole from a bank just a while ago.

"I'll have three trays, with a mix of everything you have in there, please." The people just stared at Launch, blinking. Launch didn't like the looks she was being given and squinted her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I made maself clear." She began to reach into her bra.

Tien quickly grabbed her hand, preventing her from taking out her gun. Launch looked at Tien, who just looked at the others behind the counter. "Just do as the woman says. Please."

"S-Sure," the young male responded. "But are you sure you can afford all of it?"

"Oh, with three large sodas, too!" Launch added.

Chaotzu clapped a little bit. "Yes!"

The young man looked over to the woman he was working with. She had just counted up all the money they'd need to spend in order to get it. "That'd be 25,000 Zeni..."

"Good." Launch just slapped a stack of cash onto the counter. "Keep the change."

"I don't get how one man can fight without seeing!" someone in the audience said.

Nearly the entire place was full and people had their food ready as the movie was just getting ready to start. The lights in there had dimmed down, being replaced by the illumination being given off by the radiant cinema screen, which had just got done showing a multitude of features of other movies.

"Hey," someone whispered. "Look at that! What the hell?"

People in the cinema looked over at three rather weird people: Chaotzu, Launch, and Tien. It wasn't so their appearance that freaked anybody out, but it was the fact they had three trays full of food simply floating above ground without any assistance at all. They all shamelessly walked down the aisle, Launch leading the way to the front row seats.

As they got near the front row, she saw that it was entirely full. She had a look of disappointment on her face but didn't mind doing what was necessary to get those seats. When her bad ego took control, there was seldom a guilty conscience from her brash actions She neared a family of three, a male, his wife, and their son. She crouched down near them, gathering unwanted attention of some others.

"Hey," she whispered with a warm smile. "I'm gonna need you to move." She pointed behind her back, referring to Tien and Chaotzu. "These guys and I kind of wanna watch a movie...and we were expecting to have front seats."

"Well you should have gotten here earlier," the boy said indignantly. He stuck his popcorn filled tongue out at Launch before he went back to watching the movie.

"Dick," the mother said. "Don't be so rude."

"Excuse my son," the man said. "Though he is right. We got these seats first. There are some empty ones in the third row, though. You can hurry up before they get taken."

Tien didn't see the point for all of this in the first place. "Launch." He touched her shoulder. "Come on. Third row seats are just fine, really."

The words of Tien came through one ear and flowed straight out the other. Having not registered what Tien said (not if she cared in the first place), she decided to go with things her way. The woman reached into her bra and pulled out a small pistol. The bright golden gun got the eyes of the family and them only as Launch made sure to hide it to not cause a big scene.

The kid's eyes were gazing at the gun, in some type of shock. The mother was speechless and the man of the trio nervously bit his inside bottom lip. He knew better than to perpetuate the situation. To comply would simply be the best course of action. Even if it was just over front row seats, he was not foolish.

"Fine," the man cooly said. He got up and motioned his wife and son to do so as well. The three all silently moved out of the way.

Launch put the gun back into her bra. "Success." She got up and immediately sat down. The moment her butt touched the cushioned seats, she could feel the warmness of it due to the ones who had been there before. "And the movie's just starting." She reached for a tray and placed her hands in a bag of popcorn.

"Perfect."

* * *

Time passed and the movie of the blind samurai went on. It was rather an interesting concept, the movie. It was about a young noble prince who aspires to become an elite samurai like the soldiers in his province. He wasn't born with the misfortune of being blind, though it merely happened during an incident as he fenced with a high nobleman. Being unable to see, many labeled him useless and cast him off to the side. Once a prince made to be at the throne, his younger brother took it right under him. Being shunned by his family, and set in a village of one of the poor, he continued his dreams, though secretly. There he swore he'd prove the doubters wrong. Through constant training and personal harsh regiments bestowed upon himself, he eventually managed to become as skilled as one of the higher samurai in his hold. A war had been started and it was time to test his strength...from there, it was cut short, making it known a sequel was to be made.

In the lobby of the cinema, the older lady who was at the booth earlier could be seen sweeping up the place. The other workers in the surrounding area all went out to take a smoke break, only leaving her and the security guard.

The security guard was of tall and lean stature, well built for his old age. From afar he spotted a couple of newcomers coming directly towards him.

Once the man opened the door, the security guard placed his hand on his chest. "I'll have to stop you right here, sir."

The man looked rather familiar to him, though he couldn't quite pinpoint who this face reminded him of. He had on a black and green gi, made up of zigzag pattern in white and green lines. He flipped his long ponytail behind his back and smiled in the security guard's face.

"And I'll have to stop your blood flow..." he raised his hand and quickly came down, faster than the security guard or the woman had managed to see in the room. Down beneath his feet was now a hand detached from that of the man who used to have it. Blood oozed out greatly, though it was ignored by the one to cause it. "...here." He punched the man dead center in the stomach, sending him crashing into the wall behind the desk full of food.

The old lady had the deep urge to scream, though she couldn't bring herself to doing so. Behind the man appeared a tall dark-skinned male in a black, two button notch lapel two-piece suit and a red tie with thin leather stripes. Over his hand were black leather gloves. He used to be the officer of the Red Ribbon Army before it got taken down, that was.

The man with a ponytail placed his hands behind his back and kicked up the hand he detached from the security guard. The hand was still twitching, though it immediately stopped once it was caught by the person in the green and black gi. He pointed the hand at the old lady. "You will tell the whereabouts of a man with three eyes. Where is he?"

The woman's mouth was moving quickly, though words barely managed to come out. Her lips quivered extremely as she began to stutter. "I-In...in the..."

The bald, black man in the suit closed his eyes for a brief moment. He knew he wasn't to get any answers from the old lady, so he took it upon himself to scout out the exact location of Tien-Shinhan himself.

"He's in there, 23."

23 nodded and walked passed the woman, keeping his nonchalant manner intact. "You take care of the old hag, 22. Her usefulness, or shall I say lack thereof, is no longer required."

"As you command." The tall man walked over to the short, defenseless woman, who began to shake. The broom in her hand dropped to the floor as she looked into the eyes of her to be killer.

As the movie ended, people began to get up out of their seats and headed out. Everyone there enjoyed the movie, feeling some sort of message behind it, even those that didn't pay any attention.

Launch got up and stretched. "Welp! That was pretty good. I expected more gore, but the story had me stuck to it."

Throughout the movie, Launch filled her stomach as her eyes took in a whole new story. The deed was done and she was hoping to be able to get to do something else, but with Tien only. "It's about time we head out." The only people that didn't leave their seat was Chaotzu and Tien, who stayed there. Both had a blank expression as they looked directly ahead of them, their eyes not even directed towards the rolling credits on the big screen. "I know those looks. What's wrong?"

"Chaotzu..." Tien looked over at his friend. "Did you feel that?"

Chaotzu nodded, a serious expression on his face. He and Tien both happened to feel two energy signals within the cinema that suddenly vanished off the face of the earth. It wasn't as if they were hiding their energies. There had to be something more to it.

Then a shrieking scream was heard. Following that came many more. This immediately caught the attention of the three and had both Chaotzu and Tien jump out of their seats. Launch knew something was up and pulled out the gun from her bra. "What the hell is going on...?"

Chaotzu sniffed the air, fumes slowly making way to his nose. "The place is on fire," Chaotzu called out.

Some of the people that were getting ready to leave the big room all turned back in a hurry, each with the same goal in mind: get to the emergency exit. Unfortunately, none of them were to make it out as they had hoped. One whole group of them were blasted. Once contact was made by the energy attack, their entire flesh was reduced to nothing but ashes.

A deep raging fire came over the seats in the cinema, which slowly began to spread. Tien, Chaotzu, and Launch all coughed at once, all equally unprepared for such a thing. The smoke was building up fast and it made it hard for Tien and the others to distinguish this mysterious figure from afar.

"I can't sense any energy coming from him!" Chaotzu called out.

"Nor can I," Tien said, a bit wary about what was going on. A bunch of memories began to flood towards him. This wasn't the first time he witnessed powerful foes that didn't have any ki to be sensed at all.

From the smoke appeared a face-a very familiar one. Tien and Chaotzu couldn't believe whom they had their eyes on as he neared towards them, no longer being covered by the dark smoke and raging fire that gradually grew.

"T-Tao!" Tien exclaimed. That face was unmistakable. Tao was notoriously infamous for being the most lethal assassin on the entire earth at one point. It not disgusted Tien to ever think he wanted to be like him. Out of all times, he never expected to see him at one like this.

The man chuckled. "I may take the appearance of the man once known as Tao Pai Pai, but he is long dead now. I am cyborg 23, your death bringer, Tienshinhan."

The triclops narrowed his eyes. He quickly looked behind him, spotting the emergency door. He knew that he wasn't going to be the one to flee, but there were those that could be saved. "Chaotzu...Launch..." he made sure to speak at a tone low enough for only them to hear. "When I tell you...I want you to run."

"No...!" Chaotzu immediately protested. "I won't leave you, Tien...!"

"You don't have a choice," Tien hissed. "Do as I say or things will only turn out worse for all of us!"

23 smiled as he heard everything that was going on. "Whatever you have planned shall not work." He aimed his hand upward and shot forth a non-generated energy attack. The ceiling was torn to pieces and came crashing down, multiple rocks and debris toppling at once. The trio watched as the exit was now blocked.

Tien turned back to him and growled. "Tao...if this is about what happened between Kakarot an-"

"Do you take me for a man to repeat myself?" 23 asked. "I believe I've already told you that the man known as Tao no longer exists. All of what happened in his past is long gone and forgotten. Anything you had to do with him matters not anymore."

Tien kept his eyes on 23 and whispered into Chaotzu's ear. "You're going to take Launch and run."

"Bu-"

Tien shot forth at Tao. "NOW CHAOTZU!"

Chaotzu didn't wast any time and grabbed Launch by the arm. The blonde didn't expect to be grabbed so suddenly and watched as the weapon she held slipped through her hands. "Fuck, my gun!"

23 swayed his arms to the side, producing a wind of force strong enough to overpower Chaotzu and send him crashing into the walls of the cinema. He placed his hand behind his back once more and blocked Tien's attempted punch with his foot, which he blocked by raising his leg.

Tien was surprised at how he put so much force into one single point of attack, yet 23 hadn't flinched not one bit. The tri-clops hopped back and looked over to Chaotzu and Launch, sensing their energy signals had gone down a bit. They were unconscious. "Chaotzu! Launch!"

Tien hoped to get a response from either one of them but didn't. The only one thing he did receive was a sudden and quick knee to the liver. He doubled over, gasping for all the air that was knocked out of him. 23 grimaced at Tien and kneed him again, this time directly in the torso. Tien's back crashed against the ceiling wall of the cinema prior to him crashing down hard on his stomach below. The portion of what Tien came colliding against all came falling down on him, too. The fire spreading across the building was weakening the entire cinema bit by bit.

23 eyed Tien for a while, looking for any extra movements.

"My readings say he and the others are still alive," 22 said as he neared 23 from behind.

23 turned around and walked out of the place, heading back into the smoke. "Don't mind it. They won't survive this fire anyhow."

"As you say." 22 turned around and followed 23 outside of the building.

Tien remained under the rubble, feeling extremely winded and woozy from those two simple strikes being given to him. His vision was getting blurry and the evergrowing smoke, as well as the raging fire, didn't help much with that either. Tien reached his hands out for where Chaotzu and Launch were, but the tri-clops himself wounded up the same way the very moment he closed his eyes, which was when everything went black.


	56. Self-restraint

_Age 749 (Takes place between Chapters 4 and 5)._

It was a dark and humid night. Since being placed under the wing of Tsuru-sennin, there hadn't been any real training for Kakarot. But now was the time. Tsuru preferred to train his 3 students in a nearby remote area, surrounded by nothing but grass. Their only shine of light was the bright crescent moon, so none could see exactly what lied ahead just a couple miles from them.

Chaotzu, Kakarot, and Tien all stood in one simple line side by side. There was a soft breeze in the air, though it didn't make the humidity much merciless. The trio had been outside waiting on their master for just a couple minutes and little trickles of sweat were beginning to form on the very tip of their scalp. Chaotzu had to remove his hat just to cool off his head a bit.

Tsuru, even though in the dark night, remained with shades on. No matter where the old man went, whether the place is publicized, private, dark or bright, he never removed those shades unless they came off forcibly by the likes of another person, which never happened. He was accustomed to it and could see everything just as well as his students did for the current moment.

Being the authority figure, he stood with his arms behind his back, scrutinizing over his students. Since they had gotten in a line, he had been looking over them, countless thoughts running through his head. 'Now I've already gotten a glimpse of what the monkey looking boy and three-eyes are capable of...' his head slowly shifted over to Chaotzu, who was just as attentive as the other two. 'But from him...no.'

"Tien."

As soon as he heard his name be called by the great Tsuru-sennin, his body nearly jumped. The tri-clops had his undivided attention onto his master, waiting for any instructions. "You told me that your little friend Chaotzu was stronger than the students that I had in training before, correct?"

"Yes, master."

"Implying that he would indeed have no trouble with any of those pushovers."

Tien nodded, repeating what he said just moments earlier. "Yes, master."

Tsuru-sennin rubbed one of the little strings of facial hair he had coming just above his upper lip. "I can take your word for it, though that left me with no chances of seeing just what this puny brat is capable of doing. I can tell you, Tenshinhan, are already a skilled fighter. Just from seeing how you fought those ex-students of mine, you are above decent and quite agile. You make sure you try to hit them where it hurts each time. And as for the monkey boy, he tries to strike hit 'em where it hurts too, but he relies more on his own brute force than anything else relative to true skill." Tsuru chuckled at the near astonished expressions on the faces of Kakarot and Tien, seeing how he managed to make such an observation just by watching them fight once. "I've lived for a long time and have had a great experience in the art of combat. You'd be surprised at what I know, as well as what I'm bound to teach all of you."

Kakarot's tail began to wag. Anytime the little boy got excited, that brown furry tail of his would just undulate. It was a habit that he simply couldn't control, not at this point anyway. He was dying inside just by having to hide a little smirk of his own.

Tsuru took notice and acknowledged it in the back of his head, duly noting that the monkey boy was quite eager to get down to business. "So in that case, I will need Chaotzu to test his abilities against one of you."

"I'll gladly do it," Tien said, being the one to speak up.

Tsuru only responded with pure silence. He looked at Tien, staring at him behind those dark shades of his. As much as it would be nice to see Tien fight, he couldn't allow it. "Unfortunately, it's not you. You two know one another and I don't want to chance you having to hold back in order to just make him look good. Instead, the monkey boy will be fighting him."

"I understand, master Tsuru."

"You two." Tsuru pointed at Kakarot and Chaotzu. "Come forward."

Both did just as told and stepped up, stopping just a couple of yards before Tsuru. "Both of you will spread out. Kakarot, whatever you do, stand still. I want to see what Chaotzu can do."

This kind of ruined the experience for Kakarot. He was hoping that he'd be able to engage in hand to hand combat, not only just to impress Tsuru even more, but to do it for the fun. Kakarot's back faced Chaotzu prior to him walking a couple yards right of Tsuru before stopping and turning around. Chaotzu did the same thing, promoting the distance between him and the other boy. Once they looked ahead at one another, they remained 15 yards apart.

"Now," Tsuru pointed at Kakarot as he looked at Chaotzu. "Attack him."

Chaotzu didn't have to be asked twice and began to move his little feet at a rapid pace, running for his assigned opponent. Kakarot was told not to do anything, but his instincts took over him. He moved his hand and blocked a simple punch from Chaotzu, taking the white-skinned boy by moderate surprise.

'Very quick.' While impressed by the speed, it wasn't the first time he saw it. Other than that, he was a bit irked that Kakarot did not follow orders. "Move," he said as he walked towards Chaotzu and Kakarot. Chaotzu did as told and backed away. Once Tsuru was towering over Kakarot, the two traded stares.

Just a moment later, Kakarot was on his knees, holding his stomach, appearing that he was beginning to cough up a lung. Tsuru was already walking back to the exact same spot of where he was subsequent to striking the boy. "I told you to stand still," Tsuru said. "Do it again and see what happens."

"Cough, cough!" everyone watching him didn't as much as see a single movement from Tsuru. With just one blink of the eye, Kakarot was already on his knees as Tsuru had his back turned to him. The Saiyan boy stood back on his feet, rubbing his stomach. "f-fine."

Tsuru cocked his head. "What did you just say?"

"Yes, master..." Kakarot hastily corrected.

The crane hermit smiled and nodded his head, giving Chaotzu the go. "Proceed."

Chaotzu leaped at Kakarot and elbowed the boy in the cheek. He braced himself for the strike and only had his head turn slightly. Chaotzu punched him in the face again, though didn't get much out of it. Everything but Kakarot's face remained still. Chaotzu wasn't putting enough force into his punches and realized it.

"Hit him as hard as you can," Tien advised.

Chaotzu cocked his fist back and tensed his arm. Kakarot didn't say anything and just stared at Tsuru out of the corner of his eye. Chaotzu came forth and rocked Kakarot hard, managing to knock the boy over on his butt.

Kakarot stood back up and spat out a bit of blood from his bruised lip. All he felt was a minor annoyance and a lack of pain, so much wasn't coming out of Chaotzu's strikes. "That's as hard as you can hit? Really?"

Chaotzu glared daggers at Kakarot and punched him in the gut-the same exact spot Tsuru punched him-in hopes of getting a reaction, which delayed. Kakarot grabbed at his stomach, hiding a low growl. He punched him in the face again, and again, and rendered him some blows to his current weak spot: the gut.

Tsuru and Tien watched on as Chaotzu continued on for at least one minute. By the looks of it, Chaotzu wasn't making very much progress. On the unusual occasion that Kakarot would get pushed off his feet, the boy would just come back up and taunt Chaotzu, who did some more.

"HIYA!" He kicked Kakarot in the shin and punched him in the jaw. Kakarot jerked his head back, looking back at Chaotzu, smiling.

"This may take a while," Tien said.

"Hn." Tsuru crossed his arms. "He's been taking a constant beating for a while now and proceeds to get back up. Anyone else would have probably given in by now." The blood that ran down Kakarot's chin, as well as some minor bruises, would only make one think that he took a beating. While it may seem so, he didn't look like he was in a world of pain. "Good job, monkey boy. Chaotzu, stop now."

"Yes, master." Chaotzu backed up a bit.

"My name is Kakarot," the boy said, correcting Tsuru. "Not monkey boy."

"Monkey boy, Kakaroot...why the hell should I care?" Kakarot huffed and didn't say anything else. "As I thought. Now, as I was saying, Monkey Boy...you are a very durable person, able to take a lot more than the normal human, I know that much. What you lack in true fighting skill is somewhat made up in your physical robustness." He then looked to Chaotzu. "As for you, your hits perhaps don't do as much damage due to the fact that he's very durable and you're weaker than him. Despite that, I notice that your inner talent must not lie in the art of simply fighting. It has to be something else. I have suspicions, but only you can confirm it."

"I kind of do have a special ability," Chaotzu said.

"Do tell," Tsuru responded, the utmost interested.

"Can I test it on Kakarot?" Chaotzu asked.

The Saiyan boy had a wide smile, confident that whatever Chaotzu was to throw at him, he'd just get right back up, only to mock him again. "Anything he tries to bring onto me won't work. He can try all he wants."

Getting approval from Kakarot himself, Tsuru shrugged, thinking why not? Kakarot was asking for more. So that was what he was going to give. "Very well," Tsuru said. "Carry on."

Tien waited and crossed his arms. He knew Chaotzu far better than anyone else in the world. If Chaotzu had something up his sleeve, then he just had to know about it. At the current moment, his mind was blank, trying to come up with conclusions. 'What is it that you have, Chaotzu?'

"So?" Kakarot asked, anticipating Chaotzu's next attack. "Are you going to start or-UGH!" The boy was knocked over on his stomach.

Tien and Tsuru were taken aback. A large bark of tree just came from behind and struck Kakarot on the back. It hovered just above Kakarot, being held by Chaotzu. Said novice of martial arts was sweating profusely as he tried to hold the thick bark in the air. "K-kkk...! I-I can't...hold it!" letting it slip, the thick slab of bark fell atop of Kakarot, crushing the kid.

Chaotzu fell over on one knee, breathing extremely heavily.

"You used your telekinesis, Chaotzu!" Tien ran up to his friend, checking in on him. "I thought I told you about that. It uses up too much of your energy, especially trying to move such a big thing like that. What were you thinking!?"

"Back off, Tenshinhan," Tsuru demanded. Tien looked at his master for a brief second and slowly got back onto his two feet, letting Chaotzu have a breather without there being someone breathing down his neck. The tri-clops backed away, eyes still on his friend, whom he was deeply concerned for. Tsuru neared Chaotzu and grabbed the little boy by his arm, lifting him up to his feet. "Out of all things you could have done, I never saw the use of telekinesis coming. Hehehe." He crossed his arms. "Now we know where your true ability lies in."

"Kkkk!" The young Kakarot slowly lifted himself off the ground. The thick bark was still placed on his back, giving him a very hard time to get up. He shifted his body over, letting the thing roll off him. As soon as it did, he remained in the same position, taking deep and heavy breaths. "W-what the?"

"And it's just as impressive that you've managed to endure such a thing," Tsuru said, speaking to Kakarot. "I thought you died, young one."

Kakarot huffed and puffed, his eyes wide. The kid was in somewhat of a state of shock. He didn't expect such a thing and didn't have enough time to brace for it. Never before had he ever been through such a painful experience. It was a complete first for him.

"Get up," Tsuru told him.

"I-I..."

"Get. Up."

The boy pushed on through and did just that. He had to ignore his aching back as well as his gut, which was burning by this point. He could feel his ribs close in on his belly when he landed harshly on his stomach. "Y-yes."

"What about me?" Tien asked.

"What about you?" Tsuru questioned. He looked over to Chaotzu and Kakarot, then back to Tien. "Oh, I see. You were expecting work as well, yes? Fufufu. Don't worry, I'll be sure to work you tomorrow. I've already seen that you have some skill, and you're quite durable as well. We will be taking a big step for you."

"Yes, master."

"Now, we go back home." Tsuru walked passed the three, leading the way.

Tien went over to Chaotzu and assisted him in walking for a few seconds until he managed to get his footing. Kakarot, on the other hand, was left trudging his way as he trailed behind them. 'At least it won't be as bad when I go eat...'

* * *

The Saiyan was then suddenly dragged from his dream. Those memories of the past blurred out and faded to darkness. Yet again, he was in the same void that he once was. Nothing had changed and there was the same light, there being two figures ahead of him, two figures that felt far away, two figures he was yet to recognize.

"We told you we'd be seeing you again."

The pain in the Saiyan's chest had finally gone away for the brief moment. He could speak. He had so many questions that he felt needed answering and now he felt was the perfect time to let them out. "What's going on here?" He tried to move, though couldn't. His body remained floating in this dark void, it rendering him paralyzed.

"That's for us and us only to know," the menacing voice spoke. "Yet, we'd like to know what you want, Kakarot."

The Saiyan hissed. He didn't have time for games. "None of your business."

The man chuckled. "No matter, we know what it is anyway. These memories are quite interesting, I must say. Makes me wonder why these, in particular, are coming about. Kakarot..." the saiyan remained silent. "Out of all the desires that you feel...why is it that you decide to go against them? What is it that holds you back?"

Kakarot scoffed. "Nothing holds me back. As you can tell, I do as I please."

"You and I both know that's a lie. There are hidden desires in the back of your head, desires that you fight back every day. We know what it is, but why don't you give in to them?"

"Because I'm better than that."

"Hehehehehe. You're a tough one, I must say. Why don't we proceed with more, hm?."

"Wait, wha-?"

Just like before, the bright light flew away like a shooting star, letting everything eventually go dark. A light pain in his chest came about, but he was able to sleep, resuming back to his dreams.

* * *

"You lot are becoming very strong indeed," Tsuru said, now looking over his students. "In just these couple of months, you've each managed to excel my expectations, though you are still a long way to go before you are to even reach my level." He turned around. "Come. We must eat."

"About time," Kakarot remarked under his breath. He and the others followed. As they all trailed behind Tsuru, Kakarot decided to start a conversation with Tien. "You never told me why you decided to join."

Tien kept his head straight, not making eye contact with Kakarot for even a moment. "That is none of your concern."

"Hn! Did a crab crawl up your behind or are you always so moody?"

Tien stopped and placed his hands on Kakarot's shoulder. "What did you say?"

The little boy chuckled. He noticed that there was a bit of agitation coming from the tri-clops. Every occasion or so, Kakarot took enjoyment out of pissing him off, just to mess with him for his own entertainment. "Nothing." Kakarot removed Tien's hand from his shoulder and continued to walk to get something to eat.

"No." Tien grabbed Kakarot by the shoulder and turned the boy around.

Kakarot got a grip on Tien's wrist and stared into his eyes. Chaotzu could see everything and didn't know what to do. Both of them had various times where it would seem like they'd end up fighting one another.

"Get your hands off me," Tien ordered.

"You first," Kakarot demanded.

Neither of them did what they had indignantly and caused them to only enhance the grip they had on one another. Kakarot balled up his free fist, as did Tien. It was only a matter of time before one of them were to strike the other first.

"Both of you stop it right now," Tsuru said. "We're not here to fight amongst ourselves but to get stronger. Whatever it is you have going on, cut it loose now or I'll deal with the two of you myself. Are we clear?"

Tien removed his hand from Kakarot's shoulder and nodded. "Yes, master." He left Kakarot be and walked past Chaotzu and Tsuru.

The crane hermit's eyes didn't leave Kakarot's, who was still standing there. The Saiyan child was so angry, though he knew any explicit reaction would end up with him being severely punished. His fists were shaking and his tail lashed violently. "Kakarot. Are we clear?"

As much as he didn't want to, Kakarot managed to swallow his pride for his own sake. He knew how his master was and if it came down to it, he'd never be able to take him on-not by a long shot. "Yes, sir."

Tsuru smiled. "Good. Now let us eat."

And eat they did. All of the built up frustration the young Saiyan child had was released through his wreckless eating. Every meal he got, he stuffed it down his mouth with an angry expression. It was a habit of Kakarot's and for this, he had to sit at another table, away from Tien and Chaotzu.

As the kid was eating up a storm, he was suddenly rudely interrupted. Tien slammed his hand on the table, catching the Saiyan's attention. Kakarot slowly removed the bowl of soup from his mouth and sat it back on the table. He wiped his mouth and looked over at the young Tien. "What do you want, three-eyes?"

"I don't want any mess between us, Kakarot." Said Saiyan didn't know what to make of this sentence as Tien looked almost as angry as he did, not being able to do what he wanted in regards to fighting. Both had to swallow a bit of their own pride just to do as Tsuru told them. "As much as you get on my nerves sometimes, this will be the first and last time I warn you: stay out of my way. I'll let you do whatever it is you are most comfortable with and I will do whatever it is for me. Try me again and I won't hesitate."

Kakarot didn't respond and looked at Tien, keeping his gaze on the three-eyed martial artist. His blank expression quickly turned into a smirk prior to him simply breaking eye contact and getting back to eating. "Hn!"

Tien was hoping for a response, though if anything, that would only trigger physical altercation. He removed his hand from the table and walked back over to Chaotzu. "Dumb monkey..."

Kakarot stopped eating and paused. At this very moment, he wanted to deck Tien across the face and send him flying out of the dojo but had to bring himself not to. The most he could do was growl and continue eating his meal, which he no longer enjoyed doing at the current moment.

* * *

"Now do you see what I mean?"

Kakarot was in the void, yet again. "What is the meaning of this?" Now he truly was confused. This not only happened once, or twice, but three times. It has been the same voice, the same person, each time. Whomever or whatever it was, happened to be messing with him. He wanted answers. "Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

"The real question is, what do you want Kakarot? Like that day. You wanted to bark back at your supposed quote, unquote 'master', but you decided not to. And then, you had the urge to fight the three-eyed man, but didn't. Why do you restrict yourself so much? Why restrict your desires?"

Kakarot bit the insides of his mouth and remained quiet. He knew if he answered that, then he'd bring everything to the surface. He has restricted himself from doing many things he wished to do, but couldn't find himself to do so. He never thought about it, nor did he want to bring it up verbally.

"And you're doing it again. I can sense that you wish to tell me, but prevent yourself from spilling it. Hn, no worries. But at the very least, you will see what we mean. No matter how many examples I need to use, you will see."

Yet again, he was in another dark place. Very similar to the odd and out of place atmosphere he was in moments ago, there was a light. However, Kakarot could very well tell he was in a far different location. This place, in fact, felt much more familiar to him than what state he was just in.

He remembered this night vividly. This was the night he was sent by the mercenary Tao to take out the family of the man who had owed him money. This was the night he was sent on a mission to kill a mother and her innocent child. This was the first mission he failed-the first before many to come.

Word by word, he remembered those seven words he spoke in his head, speaking to himself. 'I should just end her right here.' The boy at the time knew what he had to do, but couldn't find himself to go through with it.

That fateful night was when he lowered his hand and mercifully let the mother and her children live. Here, he looked through the eyes of his teenage body. He had no control over said body and found himself very well astonished when he still didn't lower his hand. Instead, a ball of ki developed in his hand. The woman let out a loud gasp as her and her children were done away from existence.

The Saiyan knew not if his mind was playing tricks on him or what, but he knew this never happened. Just what the hell was going on?

* * *

"Now, how do you feel?" the same menacing voice asked.

"..."

"Fufufuffufu, there's no need to tell me. I can sense it. You actually like it, don't you? You innately felt like doing this, but you couldn't stomach it. But having killed innocent lives in later stages of your life, you actually feel some sense of relief. Feel no shame in this, it's in your blood, Saiyan..."

And yet again, he was in the very same void. "That great sense of relief you just felt come off your shoulders is exactly what happens every time you give in to your carnate desires, Kakarot. These earthlings you've grown up around have only managed to influence you to a point, though they mostly restricted you of what is your true nature. This has no regard for what you come from, though some play into it. It's just what you are at heart. You're not the man you're meant to be. And you know it..."

Kakarot looked over to his left. There, a frame of him as a youngster crouching by a pond in a very familiar area. "What about...?"

"Just watch..."

* * *

 _Age 752_

It had been a few days since the defeat of the man known as Piccolo Daimao transpired. Kakarot had been living comfortably thanks to the grand hospitality of Gyumao and his daughter, Chi-Chi. As much as he considered these people a new type of family, he felt entirely closed up. He had many doubts clouding his judgment. What if they were to leave him, set him off or betray him? Like what had happened to him on more than one occasion. It was at this point where Kakarot longed for people to actually be with happily, though he couldn't come to genuinely open himself up.

The 15-year-old boy still had bruises over his body from the brutal fight, though he was up and moving about now. He wore a black tank-top with blue baggy slacks and straw zori sandals. He had eaten and did a bit of self-training, though he didn't know much else to do now. He felt lost now, again. And for what? Not too long ago he felt like he had everything he could ever need here: a family, a very supportive one at that. But he felt lost and knew not why. The kid didn't realize it, but he had some serious abandonment issues.

"Hey." Kakarot heard Chi-Chi's soft voice from behind, though he ignored her. In the beginning, Chi-Chi realized that Kakarot was much more amicable than what he was being with her now. Ever since one morning just a couple days ago that he was much more socially withdrawn than the same boy she had met. "Kakarot. I know you can hear me."

The boy stood up on and turned around, facing the young girl. Both were just about equal in height as well as their age (for the time being). The girl wore a blue Chinese dress, growing out of the lewd clothing she once wore as a younger girl. "What do you want?" Kakarot asked.

Chi-Chi didn't know what to exactly tell the young boy. If she would happen to be too straightforward, then perhaps she would repel Kakarot away. If she were to be too vague, then maybe Kakarot would just lose interest. He didn't seem very up to speaking anyhow. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

Kakarot turned back around. "I'm fine."

"You should still be resting."

"Heh. No, not at all. As you can see, I'm walking around just fine." The kid took a lot of pride in his own physical strength and endurance. He felt that was what made up a large portion of his own character. In part, he was right, but that was merely to a very limited extent.

No matter how much of a front one was able to put up, it was obvious Kakarot was in some sort of pain. The young girl followed the boy from behind and poked him on the cheek. Kakarot's eyes widened as he winced and walked forward. The young boy stumbled over, slowly losing his balance. "You..." he went to wailing his arms before splashing into the water of the pond face first.

"Hahahahahahaaha!" Chi-Chi wasn't able to hold it in and started laughing out loud by how Kakarot fell into the pond, slowly sinking in there.

The boy quickly resurfaced his head above water and spat out water from his mouth with the pout that was similar to a spoiled brat who didn't get the toy they wanted. "Not. Funny."

"Here."

After the minor incident of Kakarot falling in the pond, Chi-Chi made it up to him by giving him a towel to dry himself off. Both were under an apple tree that provided the proper shade for them on this sunny afternoon.

She sat on her knees with her legs against her lap, watching intently as Kakarot dried himself off. Every time he used the towel to dry a bit of his face, she'd notice him twitch in an instinctual reaction due to the pain he had.

"I know it still hurts," Chi-Chi said.

"No," Kakarot fibbed.

"Liar."

"ahuh." Kakarot folded his arms. He had his head away from her for a moment, hoping she'd go away for the time being so he'd have more space to brood.

Once the kid looked back ahead, he felt something touching his cheek. It was nothing usual that would elicit a painful reaction, but something soft and alleviating. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Chi-Chi with her eyes closed and lips touching the side of his face. "What the..." the Saiyan removed his face.

Chi-Chi stood there, eyes wide. The girl was the one to take initiative and secretly hoped Kakarot would take the gesture kindly. Judging by his surprised reaction, he didn't seem very fond of it. It took a lot of guts to do such a thing so suddenly and this had her flustered.

Kakarot rubbed his cheek, which hurt every time he touched it. "What the hell were you doing?"

"I...I..."

"Why did you do that?" Kakarot asked. "You're not my sister."

"Ah?" Chi-Chi was caught off-guard by what Kakarot had just said. "What do you mean?"

"Only one person has ever done that to me," Kakarot admitted. Memories of the one who partook in raising him, Mai, came to mind. "That was someone I used to call sister. When I was little, she'd always do that before I went to sleep...until I got too old. That's weird, kissing me on the cheek. We don't have that type of relationship."

"B-But...sisters aren't the only ones who do that. There are other relationships that do it, too. Besides, didn't it make you feel better?" The 15-year-old girl hoped for some bit of validation, thinking her kiss made Kakarot feel better.

The Saiyan crossed his arms and comfortably placed his head back against the bark of the apple tree. "Well, it doesn't make it hurt..."

The girl smiled. "I bet if I do it again, it'll make the pain go away."

Kakarot didn't know what to make of this. Never before was he in such a situation, nor did he think of such a thing transpiring to him, not in a million years. While it was unusual, he couldn't deny that it was at least pleasing. "..."

Seeing as to how he didn't say anything in response, Chi-Chi leaned in and kissed him again. Kakarot remained there, looking ahead at the pond before him. The boy's heart was thumping and his tail was uncontrollably swaying from side to side. He had no idea what was going on nor why his body was reacting like this. Such sensations only occurred when he was excited for something-such as food or a fight-never an occasion like this.

Chi-Chi removed herself once more, smiling wide. Kakarot didn't back off this time and the girl took it as a sign of interest. "People also kiss other ways too." Piece by piece, she was fulfilling simple fantasies in her mind. Ever since she saw the boy at the Tenkaichi Budokai, she had been having such a huge crush on him and never ceased to bother him, even if he seemed to be in a bad mood.

"What?" He looked back at her. "You want me to kiss you on the face, too?" He rolled his eyes. "Hn...I thought girls only did that to boys."

Chi-Chi laughed. "No, silly. We can both do it. Have you ever kissed someone on the lips?"

The boy shook his head. He never even knew it was something people did.

"Here." Chi-Chi cupped Kakarot's face with her hands. "Let me show you." She closed her eyes. Kakarot had no freaking idea how this was supposed to go, so he just did exactly what Chi-Chi did by closing his eyes.

He let her do the rest.

* * *

The picture of him and Chi-Chi locking lips for the first time was something that made the Saiyan's heart drop. Such memories flooding back to him had his entire mind blank. He didn't know what to think. All of this just made him remind himself of how much he genuinely cared for the woman.

"Such emotions are useless," the voice said once more, getting into Kakarot's head. "Just like the others, she will only leave you again. All of the people that you've crossed paths within your lives only see you as one thing: disposable. Your parents and the rest of the others. Don't you see?"

Such thoughts had crossed the Saiyan's mind many times before, but he eventually came to the conclusion that such things weren't true. He didn't want to believe it. Not now. He had gotten over it a long time ago and didn't want extreme doubts to resurface. They were devastating.

"Let's see some more..."

* * *

 _Age 759_

"Wahhhh! Wahhhh!"

The relentless crying of a young baby boy simply couldn't let his parents get a nick of rest. Chi-Chi held the baby Ox, her hair a complete mess. Her nor Kakarot managed to get any sleep due to the baby's crying.

"Shut it up, shut it up..." Kakarot repeated, stuffing the pillow on the bed against his face. "I need to work tomorrow..."

"Don't say that!" Chi-Chi barked. "He's still just a baby. That's what babies do: cry."

"Well..." Kakarot got up from the bed, removing the pillowcase from his face. The Saiyan was in black sweatpants, not wearing much else this late night. "he's probably hungry." For some odd reason, Kakarot felt the child had to be.

"We already fed him," Chi-Chi told her husband. "We have to remain on schedule."

Kakarot smacked his lips. "Forget the schedule. The boy has his father's appetite. You should go feed him."

Chi-Chi really was a routine person and didn't like breaking it, regardless of what matter. She fed her baby boy every day at 9 o'clock in the morning, then fed him three hours later at 12 noon, then fed him once more at 3:00 and follow up at 4:30. And lastly, she would feed him at 5:30 and ended the feeding at 9:30. Each time she made sure to give the boy big portions, but that even still didn't seem like enough.

"Oh, hush, hush." She rocked the boy up and down, though he only cried even louder.

"When the kid is able to walk, he's going to be fighting."

Chi-Chi turned her head over to Kakarot, glaring at him. "No, he won't!"

The Saiyan was a bit surprised at his wife's sudden outburst. All he said was that the boy would be fighting like him and she seemed to be getting a temper tantrum. The baby's cries intensified as did Kakarot's stare. "I wasn't asking."

"And I don't care," Chi-Chi retorted. "I've seen how brutal fighting can be. I can't imagine my baby boy going through such things, Kakarot. It won't be right. It's best he stays here and study so he can be the complete opposite of you."

"He won't be just like me," Kakarot said. "The boy's going to know how to become strong and defend himself. I care not if he studies. If so, then that will mean he'll be a smarter person, and it may help him in fighting someday."

"Kakarot..."

"Chi-Chi..."

The spouses looked at one another in the eye. Chi-Chi had a very serious expression, non-verbally showing her husband just how much she preferred that Kakarot didn't train their son. However, Kakarot himself was smiling. Both knew that said fighter didn't care how much Chi-Chi was against their firstborn fighting, he was going to do it anyway. The two were very hard headed individuals, though Kakarot was far more relentless than her.

"Here." Chi-Chi stood up from the edge of the bed and walked over to Kakarot. "Hold him while I go get something for him to eat." Kakarot took the child in, holding him properly. Ox's cries softened a little bit, though he still was loud. The baby's father moved his head back a little, the kid's tail wagging back and forth violently. "Can you handle it?"

"Of course," Kakarot said. "What's holding a baby to someone who's been on the verge of death countless times. This is nothing."

"Ahuh." Chi-Chi turned around and exited the room, leaving Kakarot and his son alone.

Ox still cried out loudly while in his father's hardened arms. As he cried, Kakarot looked closely at the boy, scrutinizing his face and small physical tendencies. Seeing that the kid was truly his own had him form a smile on his face. "You're going to be a great warrior someday, boy." He sat back down on the bed, eyes not leaving his son's face. "Now...how to calm you down..." Seeing how Chi-Chi's rocking sometimes was efficient in making Ox a bit calmer, Kakarot did the same thing.

This time it actually worked. Ox wasn't crying all loudly, though the little boy was quieter. The kid's tail lashed from side to side and ended up striking his father in the cheek. He had not expected such force from a simple baby to come from its tail. Kakarot looked back to his son, who giggled. "You have too much fun hitting me, little boy." Kakarot looked behind himself and noticed that his own tail was wagging back and forth. Involuntarily, his long furry tail touched Ox's.

The baby giggled once more and reached its chubby arms out for its daddy's face. "Gegegege..."

"Hm." Kakarot felt a sense of joy, not one he got to experience all the time. Both his tail, as well as his own childs was wrapped around one another. The baby was no longer crying.

* * *

"M-My son..." That day was when he felt that he truly had a bond with the boy. He was just a baby then but he felt Ox felt something, too. Such a pleasant memory warmed his heart.

"Yes, Kakarot. Your son. That baby is turning into a fine strong and smart young man. He could provide useful to us in the future, but not now. When it comes to your own child, he is your biggest weakness-a weakness you must get rid of."

"Weakness..." Kakarot couldn't believe what he was saying. "How? That little boy is who I get my strength from. Without him..."

"Exactly my point. Without him, you'd be either nothing or less than what you are? Was that what you were going to say?" The Saiyan kept his lips sealed. "Then if so, that is exactly your weakness. And now we see what's exactly holding you back from doing what you truly want to do, Saiyan. Just fall into your desires...and you shall go far..."

Kakarot just remained quiet and thought about it. He didn't know what to respond, but for some reason, he felt that there had to be some truth into what he was told. He also felt that he was sort of feeding into bullshit, but this person seemed to be making good points. He couldn't just ignore them.

The light faded yet again. Everything was black momentarily for just a brief moment. Then, his eyes opened. He was still in the tank, though he could hear a flushing sound. The liquids inside the rejuvenation chamber were coming down, falling into little holes beneath him.

Once the water was all drained, the entrance to the machine had opened. Before him, Kakarot got to see every person that traveled here with him. He felt no pain in his chest any longer. He felt far better in fact.

He was finally cured.


	57. Unexpected Events

Finally, he was cured. After all the hell, the agony and suffering he had to endure for so much time, it all finally went away. What was particularly unexpecting was the fact that the hellish suffering he had been having to tolerate for consecutive days had suddenly vanished, much like a sickly cold would. Kakarot's soaked hair no longer had the current strength to defy gravity for the moment being as his entire hair was being pushed down by the liquids it had absorbed from being in the rejuvenation chamber for days at a time. Everyone around him all just watched as he observed his hands and body, getting a feel for himself. He grabbed at his hardened arms and clenched his fists. His lips curled into a smile. He never felt so well.

"And looks who's back up yet again," Vino said, grinning. The man had a towel wrapped around his bare and sweaty shoulders, having spent the majority of his time in the training room. He was most confident Kakarot would be able to come back to full health.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that he was doing just fine.

"Kakarot!" Chi-Chi was the first to express just how good she felt to know her husband was feeling much better by jumping out at him and wrapping her arms around him. She disregarded just how moist his body was and embraced him tightly. "Oh...I missed you so much," she cried. "I thought you were gonna leave us."

"Oh, boy, wait till she hears the news..." Kakarot's eyes shifted off to the right, where he heard a familiar, yet indistinguishable voice. There against the wall, he could see a male with of near-identical appearance to his own, facial wise, even to the point of physical build and hair. He had on a martial arts gi, which was mixed with various colors of orange, blue and white as well as different kanji, revealing that he undertook various masters. Being the one that spoke, he smiled wide and waved over to Kakarot with silly laughter. "ehehehe..." Kakarot was beginning to question if he was seeing things.

Chi-Chi pulled herself back from Kakarot and looked over him. "My goodness."

"I think we should give them some of their own room," Dr. Briefs said as he lit up yet another cigarette.

"Leave me and the boy," Kakarot said, referring to his son.

"As you wish." Dr. Sucidem was the first to head out, being followed by all of the others.

"Does that mean I leave, too?" asked the guy posted up against the wall. He looked over as the room was being emptied out one by one and was yet to get a response from Kakarot. Seeing as to how nothing was said, he shrugged his shoulders and placed his hands behind his back. "Ehhh...I'll take that as a no."

"Oh..." Dedana poked her head back into the room. "Your new set of armor is right over there." She had her fingers pointed towards the counter in the room, making sure he saw.

Kakarot walked passed his wife and son to attend to his clothing. He looked over his armor, which looked more like a newer version. There was a black spandex with pants and a shirt being affixed to one another for an entire outfit, whereas his violet looking armor plate would be placed over it alongside a red scouter. He got to the black spandex first.

"We need to talk."

Then came the silence. He and Chi-Chi had said those four simple words at the exact same time, one in a low and calm voice and the other in a higher and more anticipated tone. He and Chi-Chi locked eyes for a split second.

"Oh!" the guy against the wall oohed. "This should get interesting."

"You go first," Chi-Chi said. She figured whatever her husband had to say wouldn't be as big or shocking for the news she had in store for him.

"I won't be on earth for a while-a long while," Kakarot said.

"W-What do you mean?" Chi-Chi asked. "And how long?" Now she was beginning to question the severity of the news.

"I've decided to take it upon myself to do business entirely different." Once he slipped on the black spandex, he went over to put on his armored chest plate. "Primarily, the idea was to go for a wine trade, sell the supply I'd get from earth across the universe-have personal currency on earth and here as well to live comfortably."

"Primarily," Ox said, knowing that his father was insinuating that he desired to get on with something else now. Whatever he originally had planned was now a discarded idea. "What's the new plan?"

"Being honest with you all as well as myself...I don't really want that. I yearn for something more...exciting, so to speak."

"What?"

The man posted up against the wall came up to Kakarot from behind and placed his arms around the man's neck. He looked over Chi-Chi and Ox, seeing the expression on their faces. "Huh. You can tell that Chi-Chi doesn't get exactly what you're saying...but the boy has a general idea. I think he knows what you mean when you say you want something more exciting." He chuckled. "It must be the Saiyan blood in him that gets it."

"There is no point in using wine to get what I want," Kakarot said. "I am now the most powerful person in the universe. I can just take it. And for those who want to stand in my path, they can fight me for what they want to protect. That's what I mean for something more exciting."

"Okay," the man said. "That does sound exciting, but we're not going to kill innocent people are we? I mean, it's your choice and all, but that wouldn't be very nice."

"So you're going to conquer worlds to get what you want?" Ox inquired. "People back in uncivilized times used to do the same. They'd travel to different areas and plunder people's personal homes for what they have just to get what they want. Is that what you're going to do, dad?" Secretly, the boy hoped that Kakarot wouldn't go that route, though he could feel that his mind was already made up.

"You can join, too, boy." He relished the thought of exploring such worlds alongside his son. "Imagine all the fun we can have. The countless battles, and the continuous growth in strength. Nobody could stop us and we'd be able to do whatever we please."

"Kakarot," Chi-Chi said aloud. "That's not you! A man of your intelligence should know better than that. And you're not evil!"

"Dad..." Ox said, approaching him. "Why don't you forget about all this and come back home? We need you."

"Yeah," the man said. "You know you wanna go back home, so why don't ya? You miss these two rascals and would love to be back there."

"No," Kakarot said, answering to all three of them. "This is something I simply feel like doing." He turned around to get his armored gauntlets.

"What about us?" Chi-Chi asked. "Kakarot, we're going to have another baby! Are you just going to leave that behind? Huh!?"

"Ohh snap!" the man yelled as loud as he could. "You're gonna have another kid?" Kakarot was still for a moment, just in the midst of putting on his other gauntlet. The man got in his ear and spoke. "Another baby...doesn't that make you excited? What if it's a boy? Hah! Kakarot Jr?"

Kakarot placed his gauntlet on his other fist and turned around subsequent to picking up his scouter. "Now if you don't mind, I have business to attend to." He clicked the device over his left eye. "Vino, you and Dedana can come in. Everyone else will be headed home now."

Ox and Chi-Chi were at a loss for words. The way the person they knew all along wasn't being him. This wasn't him. Sometimes, he was a bit cold, yes, but never like this. Chi-Chi knew the news of a new child would have Kakarot at least somewhat excited. Here, he had no reaction-none at all. She nor her son knew what to think.

"I'll be sure to visit earth in nine months or so, sometime after the baby's birth." That wasn't even the gist of it all. Kakarot had other plans in mind as far as going to see his soon-to-be child. If Ox wasn't going to accompany him on his travels, then so he could have a replacement

Ox wanted to give an outburst, though the presence of Vino and Dedana entering the room made him watch his tone. He took in a deep breath and got off his tippy toes, lowering his hostile aggression. "We'll be waiting then." He grabbed Chi-Chi by the wrist and walked her out. The saddened look on his mother's face only made him angry. And he had to leave before he'd make any rash and unnecessary actions.

"Heh, looks like the boy's mad," said the man. "If you told him I love you or something, I'd bet he'd feel better." He looked at Kakarot, who paid no mind to them as they simply exited the room. "Orrr not..." he turned around. "I'm hungry."

"I want an announcement for all the warriors of this planet to get together outside the landing site of this building."

"I'm on it," Dedana said. The woman clicked her scouter as she left the room, making sure to make the announcement. "I'll be sure to be there to check and see if anyone shows."

Once the automatic sliding doors sealed tightly behind Dedana once she left, Vino leaned himself up against a wall and crossed his arms, staring at Kakarot. No words needed to be shared. One simple look and he could not only tell, but feel that something was different about his superior. "So I assume that what we had planned in regards to the wine business is going right out the window, yes?"

"I do have something better planned," Kakarot confirmed. "We need not run on a simple business. You and I are top warriors of the universe. With your quick progression in strength and nobody to stop me any longer, that makes us the top dogs all throughout. We have a business being run on Earth, so when we go there, we'll have money. As for everything else spread across the universe, we can just take it."

Vino's eyes shifted to the floor and he began to shake his head. If Kakarot was implying to plunder worlds and take their things, he didn't have a good feeling about it. Doing such things reminded him of a temporary time that brought memories of sorrow. "It's honestly best that we do things how we initially had them planned."

"Regardless of your reasons, what I say around here goes. You can either go by it or leave. Do I make myself clear?" Vino had said nothing in response as quickly as Kakarot had liked, therefore, this caused the Saiyan to repeat himself. "Do I?" Kakarot asked, his voice much more threatening than before.

Vino looked back to his superior and nodded. "Yes, sir. We're clear. I'm quite sure you're hungry right now, so I'll be sure to go tell the cooks in the mess hall to whip you up something to eat."

"Yes!" the man in the room said. "My stomach has felt like it's about to get crushed since you've gotten out of that chamber."

Kakarot, now alone, turned to face the man in the room. He looked over him one more time and couldn't believe how many similarities they genuinely had. Something wasn't right about this. Kakarot clicked his scouter, trying to get a reading of this individual. Much to his surprise, nothing turned up. Seeing how pointless it was, he shut the device completely off, cutting at its signal for the time being.

"Okay, I bet ya have some questions." The man placed his hands behind his head and laughed loudly. He then tapped his chin while looking at the ceiling. " Hmm? How do I make this as short as possible?" A lightbulb then brightened atop his head. "You can call me Saru. I'm your best pal now really." Kakarot shook his head and turned around, beginning to head out the room. "Oh, boy! So we're gonna get some food! Man, I can smell it from here!" Saru raised his head and sniffed the air. Out from behind him popped out a brown, furry tail, which was now wagging with excitement. "Hm? Hey, do you sense that?"

As Kakarot walked the halls, he could feel an energy force coming their way. Out from the corner of the curvy corridors appeared a soldier of short stature. He was short, small and very lanky, though the power being felt coming from him showed that he was far stronger than the average soldier. His soft facial expression showed rather opposite to what he could truly do on the battlefield, which would confuse any opponent and convert them into deeming him completely harmless. As soon as he spotted Kakarot, he came to an immediate halt, which caught the Saiyan's attention. Kakarot looked the soldier up and down for a moment before speaking to him. "Why are you not where you were called to be?"

"Ah?" the man cocked his head, a bit confused.

"You are a warrior, are you not?"

"Oh, yes, sir! Is something going on?" He grinned. "Are we going to be headed out for a real mission instead of wine giving?"

"I see," Saru said, pointing to the man. "He doesn't have his scouter on, so he didn't get the message."

"Dedana had orders for every warrior on this planet to be placed outside the landing site. That doesn't exclude you."

"Oh! Sorry, sir. I didn't have my scouter with me at the time. I'll be over there in a hurry!"

"Make sure to tell the others that they must wait for my arrival."

"You've got it!"

"Hah!" Saru continued to walk alongside Kakarot. "So why bring all these guys together?" He looked at Kakarot hard for a moment, reading his near blank facial expressions. It was then that Saru finally understood. "I get it! You wanna fight those guys! Man, there's at least a couple hundred soldiers here on this planet. They're not all that strong or anything, but it's a decent work-out, I guess. Before you do anything, you need to fill that belly up."

A few more moments of walking and Kakarot hit a corner. He was in the mess hall, the same one where he killed a soldier for blatantly insulting him in front of others. Here, there were countless tables from one wall to the other filled with stacks of foods.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Saru ran right into the mess hall. "Let's chow down on some food."

Kakarot walked into the mess hall and didn't waste any time. He neared the closest table he could find and began to stuff his face in. Every single plate (well over 100) were being cleaned to the very bottom.

Saru put a bowl down and looked over to Kakarot. "Man, these are great! Some meals over here are better than the ones on Earth! Imagine if we could fuse the foods together and make super foods! That'd be so cool!"

It was just a couple of more minutes before Kakarot cleared all of the 20 plus dining tables full of food. The cooks inside the messing hall were all told to clean up and swiftly.

"Sir, Kakarot!" one of the cooks called out.

The Saiyan stopped and turned around to face the man. "Hm?"

"Was it good?"

"Boy, was it!?" Saru exclaimed. "I could go for fourths!"

"Filled me up just fine," Kakarot answered. With that as his only response, he left the room.

"I think I get the plan now," Saru said as Kakarot walked the halls. "All of those who used to be apart of Freeza's army is going to get dealt with, right? You killing them is basically you giving them what they deserve for all the treacherous acts they've committed all these years. We're just starting off here."

And that's what Kakarot had in mind, though not for that particular reason. He, personally, wanted to do away with all of Freeza's remaining army so he could take over everything they had for his own. Each planet Freeza used to have would be his and he'd be the supreme ruler of all. He had already been attacked by some rebellious fools whom still had their loyalties with Freeza and Freeza only and Kakarot figured it was best to simply prevent such a scenario equal to the one having recently occurred never coming about again. Also for an addition, the fewer people he could share his infinite amount of resources with, the better.

Saru then scratched his head. "And you plan on taking out every soldier on Freeza's Force on every planet?" Just thinking about it, Saru had his mind going in constant circles. "Man, Freeza alone owned dozens of planets, as did his father. That's a lot of traveling. It could be years before we're able to rid of all of them! Then we'll have to be sure that we're in earth in nine months or so for a little bit, then we go back out. Are you sure you really want this, man?"

Hearing the constant talking was beginning to annoy the Saiyan. "Shut Up."

* * *

A fiery building was breaking off piece by piece. What was once known as one of the most popular and renowned theatres was burning into simple rubble. Hellish screams could be heard from inside the searing place. People being burned alive, their flesh being peeled off bit by bit as their bones started to break down. The gradual process of such agony could make anyone prefer a quick death rather than one such as this.

BOOOM! The place exploded.

Tien awakened in a cold sweat, letting out a quick shout. Having raised himself off his back so quickly, the three-eyed martial artist felt winded for a brief moment. His heart sank in his stomach though still pumped hard. He looked over to his hand, which was wrapped in bandages, as well as his entire arm. Having his nerves and senses slowly come back to him, he could feel the aching pain in his body beginning to take effect.

The last recurring thoughts in his head was that of Chaotzu and Launch. He dug deep into his mind for a moment before truly capturing what had transpired. The sudden face of Tao, a man he once aimed to be exactly like in his younger years, appeared vividly in his brain. He let out a gasp. "Chaotzu!" He yanked the blankets from his body and shot out of bed. He didn't mind the bandages that covered well over 60% of his body, he was worried about his friend. He knew not what house he happened to be in at the current moment and simply left the door nearest to him.

Once he was out, he looked to his side and saw a small flight of steps. He wasted no time and headed down, hoping to be able to see his friend. "Chaotzu!" Going down as quick as he did, Tien paid no attention to his steps and accidentally tripped as he came down. This led to a short-lived stumbling down the stairs prior to a hardened fall just right off the end. He was in the living room.

"Hey!" turtle yelled. "He's awake!"

From the kitchen came Oolong and Muten Roshi. From outside, Lazuli, Krillin, and Puar all appeared. "Oh boy!" Roshi fixed his shades.

Krillin ran over to Tien and assisted the injured man in picking himself up off the wooden panels of Roshi's living room. "Hey, Oolong...give him a glass of water, will ya?"

"On it." Oolong headed right into the kitchen. In a split moment, water was heard running from its faucet for a brief moment.

"Sit down," Krillin advised Tien. "You're still not up to par."

"No." Tien shook his head. He looked all around the house and even tried to sense the ki of Chaotzu and Launch. "Where's my friend Chaotzu? Where's Launch?"

Silence.

Silence was stronger than words themselves at times. Tien noted the solemn expressions on turtle, Roshi, Oolong, and Krillin before finally realizing the truth: neither Launch or Chaotzu managed to make it.

"By the time the guys got there, they only sensed you were alive," Lazuli said. "The other two weren't able to be found. The only thing left there was debris."

Hearing those news calmed Tien a bit, but it wasn't the news he wanted. He lost his friend. He sat down on the second to last step, rubbing his bald head furiously. Frustration quickly began to replace any other emotion he had. "Gr...!"

"Here..." Oolong approached the grieving warrior, offering him a glass of water. "Drink up."

"Thanks..." Tien grabbed the glass of water and took a sip. Once he set the near-empty cup down he began to think, trying to search for clues as to how Tao of all people was capable of possessing such power all of a sudden.

"Do you recall what happened?" Roshi asked, leaning in on his cane placed before him.

Tien nodded his head before responding. "Yes. Chaotzu, Launch and I had just got done watching a movie. When it ended, the place was suddenly attacked."

"By who?" Oolong asked.

"By Tao Pai-Pai," Tien responded.

"What?" Roshi asked, his voice nearly through the roof. "You mean Tsuru's brother?" The old man then went to shake his head. "No. An assassin like him would never be so careless. He does no matter what to get the job done, but he wouldn't do such a thing."

"No," Tien corrected. "He had Tao's face, but he wasn't Tao. I tried to sense for his power, but it was as if he had no soul: I couldn't sense his energy."

"This seems all too familiar..." Krillin mumbled under his breath. It was at the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't place why he felt that way.

Click

Oolong sat the television remote on the small table behind him and had his eyes peeled on the news.

"And yet after the sudden attack on South Capitol, Amenbo Island has just been attacked! Earth's defense forces are trying their best to defend against these abnormal creatures, but their efforts all seem to be in vain!" The reporters sitting at a desk with a couple others all paused for a brief moment. The female looked to her other co-workers, a rising tension beginning to come out and about. "D-Did you feel that?"

"Feel wha-?"

The channel then turned static. Oolong immediately shut the television off, shaking his head with a deep sigh. "This is happening...again..."

"Androids," Muten Roshi concluded. "That's the only thing I can come up with."

Everyone turned their heads over to Roshi. "Are you serious?" Krillin asked. "I thought we took care of the Red Ribbon Army!"

"It looks like the remnants of their army have come together, and yet even just as forceful as before. They don't seem to have strength in numbers, but judging by how they're going about, they won't be needing it."

Tien stood up. "Is there anyone out there at least trying to put a stop to this?"

"Last time I checked, Yamcha and Lapis told me they were on it," Oolong said.

"They did?" Krillin and the others all asked simultaneously.

Oolong just shrugged. "Well, yeah." He then looked over to Puar. "Why do you think he told you to come over here? He went out to investigate the problem."

Lazuli shook her head. If these guys were androids and had the power to beat Tien the way they did, then her brother was in just as much trouble. She wouldn't be able to stand losing him again in this lifetime. She shifted her body and headed for the door.

Smack!

Krillin gripped his hand's tightly around Lazuli's wrist. He looked into his fiance's bright, blue eyes and shook his head. "I'll go."

"Are ya crazy?!" Muten Roshi asked. "Look at Tienshinhan! Do you think you could stand up to them, m'boy? You musta lost yur marbles!"

"I don't care," Krillin said. "My children sleeping upstairs are not going to lose their mother. Not today nor tomorrow. If anything, it's going to be me to try and look out for the others."

"In that case..." Tien stood up. "Count me in, too."

"Are you crazy!?" Krillin then shouted.

Tien grinned. He didn't care if he stood a chance or not. All of this was for the vengeance of his friend Chaotzu and Launch, both who surely fell by the hands of an android/cyborg. He knew that if he was the one to pass, Chaotzu would confront the ones to take him out. They had a close bond and would do anything to avenge his best friend, someone he could call brother without any problems. "Just as much as you are."

"Heh." Krillin liked Tien's eager attitude and past his wife out the door. Once he touched green grass outside, he shot into the sky. Tien followed immediately right behind.

"Krillin!" Lazuli shouted.

Roshi came from behind and gripped her shoulder. "Let him go. He feels that he needs to do this, even though he's weaker than you. He wants to be the one to protect his wife and children. With Tien's help, they just might win."

As much as Lazuli wasn't okay with the idea, she figured that she had no other choice in the matter. "Fine. Then he better come back home alive."

"He will," Puar said. "All of them will."

* * *

Both Krillin and Tien traveled through the high skies, flying at zooming speeds to get to their destination as quick as possible. Since he wasn't entirely healed, Tien was a bit slower than usual. Both bald martial artists used to be on opposing sides back in the day, training under masters with different philosophies and ideologies. Years pass and they were now fighting for something they equally felt they needed to either protect or acknowledge. While very different in person, there was a mutual respect between them.

"It still irks me that these creeps are still out and about," Krillin said, voicing his opinion. "How are they still even relevant?"

As far as Tien was concerned, Krillin was asking the wrong person. He knew just about as much as Krillin did. "Doesn't matter," Tien said. "We're going to put a stop to all of this today."

"Hey, I know I'm not as strong as you or the others, but don't count me out on this one, okay? I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family as well as others."

"Of course," Tien said. He left off for a quick moment of silence. Looking far into the distance, he could see Amenbo Island from afar. From what he could see, smoke was rising up into the sky for hundreds of feet. It had already been attacked. "We're here."

"I can feel Yamcha and Lapis' chi," Krillin said.

"Then they must have just arrived there."

Krillin and Tien both started a slight curve going downward, descending into the island. As they got closer and closer, they could see the collapsed buildings as well as small stores burning in a raging fire. Countless cars were wrecked and totaled in the streets with some citizens still running out, looking for unharmed places they would be capable of hiding themselves in for protection.

Lapis and Yamcha both could be seen standing in the city on two separate sidewalks, trying to find the attackers.

"Hey!" Krillin called out, waving from above.

Hearing the familiar voice of the turtle hermit trained midget, both Yamcha and Lapis turned their attention over to Krillin and Tien. Said fighters had both just arrived dead center in the middle of the wrecked street, garnering the attention of the other two.

"We sensed you guys were on your way here not too long ago," Lapis said, hopping atop one of the wrecked vehicles near them. "We've been waiting."

"Really?" Krillin asked.

"Lapis and I met up here just a couple of minutes before you guys got here," Yamcha said. He looked over to Tien, noticing the bandages surrounding him. "Dude, you should be resting right now. You're still in bad condition."

"I don't care," Tien said abruptly. "I won't do anything after the death of Chaotzu. That simply won't just slide."

Yamcha just nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to convince the tri-clops otherwise. Picturing himself in Tien's shoes, if it were Bulma, Krillin, Roshi or Puar, he would very well feel the same way. He understood Tien's personal reasoning for coming out here, even in the worst of shape.

"Good thing I came prepared," Lapis said. He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a little brown bag. "I made sure to get some just in case." He pulled a bean out of it and plucked it over to Tien. "It'll make you feel better for sure."

"Thanks." Tien appreciated the kind gesture and tossed it into his mouth. A few seconds of munching on it and he was back at one hundred percent. "HEH!" He crouched down and tensed his muscles for a brief second, tearing all the bandages he had wrapped around him and letting them fall beneath his feet. His bare chest could now feel the heat of the fire in the vicinity, he felt like he could actually do something now.

"We aren't able to sense these guys," Yamcha called out. "If anything, they have to be the same androids we faced a couple of years back."

"That's the only thing I can come up with as well," Krillin said. "They don't have an entire army like last time, but they are just as bad now."

"Just as bad we are," a voice from behind spoke out.

The expert fighters all jerked their heads. Through a fiery smoke appeared to unfamiliar faces, faces that had never been seen before in their lives. One of them was a pudgy and pasty white looking person as the other was merely an old man with a wrinkly face, who didn't seem like one to do much harm. The very first thing noted about these two were the RR insignias attached to their clothing. There was no doubt about it: they were apart of the Red Ribbon Army.

"So it's been you who were up to these atrocities!" Yamcha yelled out.

"Yes," the old man spoke. "Quite frankly, for some humans with inferior brains, you sure came to a nice logical and precise conclusion. Yes, we've decided to go a different route compared to what we did last time."

"Still planning on taking over the world, huh?" Lapis asked, flipping his hair from his face. "Truly, what...isn't this the third time someone has tried to do something like this?" He then scoffed. "And you already failed once. Why can't you learn your lesson from the first time and go back to your old home where you came from? You don't want any of these problems."

Android 20 had laughs escaped his mouth from Lapis' comments. "Ah, truly hysterical. I could only imagine having someone like you under my wing. You seem like the rebellious type." He then grinned. "I'm glad I didn't take you or your sister in when I had the chance."

And that's when it all finally clicked. Krillin and Yamcha's eyes widened as they realized who this man was. "You were that guy that tried to kidnap Lapis and Lazuli back then when we found them!"

"Hehehehe. I wasn't going to do any harm to them...I only had experiments that needed planning." He then shrugged his shoulders. "Not that it matters now. I have had other successful tests. And as for your comment in regards to trying to take over the world, we don't care about that anymore. We've deemed all of that pointless and have decided to simply kill all of you stupid humans instead."

Lapis hopped down from the roof of the totaled car and rolled up his sleeves. "I honestly don't give a damn. We'll see to it that you don't go through with your goal." Lapis as well as the others all got battle ready.

"Don't underestimate these guys," Tien warned. "I've faced one of them before and they got me good. Guy didn't even try."

"Hahaha. That must have been 23. Yes, he's a much more advanced android-no an actual cyborg. He follows my commands and does what he's told. Right now the objective is to rid of all strong fighters on this planet."

"Then how come I don't see them around?" Yamcha asked.

20 just grinned. "Because you took the bait." He and 19 both ascended to the sky, preparing their leave.

Yamcha growled. "You get back here!" He flared his light blue aura and rocketed into the sky. 19 and 20 both just laughed at him as Yamcha made an effort to attack. The scarred martial artist was so focused on them that he hadn't noticed anything coming from behind. He didn't manage to get within 20 yards of them prior to being knocked in the back of the neck so suddenly. He was sent crashing into the raging from afar due to impact.

19 and 20 both took off at quick speeds, leaving them to their own opponents. "Yamcha!" Krillin cried out, concerned for his friend.

Up in the sky were both cyborgs 22 and 23. "Your focus should be on us!" The two cyborgs had energy being charged in their hands and sent them down for all of them.

Lapis grabbed Krillin and hopped out of the way as Tien moved. The blast formed a giant hole dead center in the street of this burning city. The two could be heard laughing from above.

"Whoah!" Krillin looked up above. Through the smoke came the two cyborgs, attacking head-on.

Tien already knew who it was and prepared himself. "Tao!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He charged at the man once more and tried to take a swing at him. 23 swiftly flew past Tien, his eyes on other targets. 22 took care of Tien by punching the fighter dead in the jaw. The feeling of his teeth being loose didn't seem far from the truth once he had got punched.

Krillin took down a big gulp. 23 was headed right for him and he was extremely fast. All Krillin could see was a blur and had no general idea of where he should even protect himself. His mind was beginning to race and because of this, he was starting to lose track of the battle itself.

The very same person that got knocked away just moments ago came from afar and kicked 23 in the forehead, sending him crashing into one of the burning buildings within the proximity. Yamcha landed before Krillin, an insane dark red aura covering his entire body. It had been a while since he had to use an insanely high level of Kaio-Ken such as 10.

Lapis looked over Tien for a brief moment and shrugged his shoulders. "If that's what it's gotta take." He tensed his body and did the exact same. "Kaio-Ken times ten!" His hair shot up in blazing glory for a brief moment due to the extreme air pressures coming from the feet and up, surrounding his entire body with the Kaio-Ken aura.

Krillin looked over to Tien, who did the exact same. "Oh, come on! I can't even do that!"

"You okay in there?" 22 asked.

The entire burning building 23 was crashed into had come falling down into one single piece due to a simple explosion. Out came the man who was once known as the most ruthless and legendary assassin now turned cyborg. He looked over all the fighters and smirked. "We know all your techniques, fools. None of what you can do is capable of beating us."

Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, and Lapis all shot forth.

"You and Krillin get the bald guy!" Tien told Yamcha. "Lapis and I will handle 23."

Once told what to do, the battle then commenced. Krillin, even though highly handicapped when it came to this battle, wasn't going to simply back down. He had the assistance of Yamcha, who was using Kaio-Ken and found it much easier to fight alongside them.

22's deep voice sent shills down Krillin's spine. He swatted away all their attempts at punching and kicks like they were nothing. "Is this all you fools got?" He plucked Krillin in the forehead, knocking the midget fighter into the ground.

"Krillin!" Yamcha called out.

"Pay attention, idiot." He caught Yamcha by surprised and rendered the scarred fighter a gut-check. The sudden impact of 22's hardened strike coerced the Kaio-Ken aura to go away immediately. He grabbed the man by his long hair and kneed him directly in the nose prior to slinging him into the concrete ground below.

"Hahahahahaha!" 23 blocked and dodged the punches and kicks from both Tien and Lapis. With these two fighting at such high powers, he was finding it quite hard to simply knock them away. "The data showed that you'd be about this strong." He ducked under a kick from Lapis and blocked an incoming knee from Tien with his elbow. He punched Tien in the thigh and rose back up, rendering Lapis an uppercut in the process.

The two were knocked back momentarily before coming at him again. This time it was Tien and Tien only on the offensive. "Very brave of you to come back against me after what had transpired, Tienshinhan."

"It won't be as easy as last time, you piece of shit!" Having the thoughts of his friend in mind, Tien was unleashing a series of attacks with a searing fury. He wasn't letting anything back not one bit. Behind him Lapis was charging a blue energy in both his hands, making sure Tien used up as much time as possible.

22 came down for Krillin, trying to crush the man while he was on his back. Yamcha came from below and tackled the black cyborg, wrapping his arms around the man's hip. He used momentum to his advantage and had him and 22 crashing through a wall.

22 grabbed Yamcha by his shirt and picked him up, making the fighter lose his grip on him. He yanked Yamcha, slinging him yet again, this time through the ceiling of the burning place. He shot through the hole of the roof and neared Yamcha, sending him a quick and hard kick directly to the chest. Yamcha was soaring away for dozens of meters with that one kick.

"RAHHH!" Krillin came from below, charging a Kamehameha in the process. 22 looked down and aimed his hands for the midget. Krillin didn't manage to send his attack off and was blasted right back to the ground.

22 zoomed in on Krillin and crushed his foot into the midget's stomach, nearly crushing his organs. He stood above Krillin, who was coughing up blood. 22 smiled, a true act of sadism. He picked the little guy up by his shirt and raised him to eye level. "You knew you had near zero chance of beating us, yet you still tried anyhow. I'll say, you have more cojones than your friends over here."

Krillin growled and raised up his hands, giving 22 a weak look. "Don't count me out yet." He moved his arms in a circular motion, producing an attack of his. "Kienza-!"

22 saw this coming and snapped Krillin's arm in half. "Nice try." He buried his fist against Krillin's chest and threw him back into the ground. The man wasn't even capable of letting out a scream with his face being pressed up against the cracked street below due to the force of 22's hard and black boot. "Why would you even come here? Do you have a death wish?"

23 got enough of Tien's constant punches and blocked two coming towards him at once with a simple elbow. "Enough of these games." He elbowed Tien across the face and kneed him in the stomach. Raising his elbow, he collided it against his opponent's back. Tien fell down hard on his knees below.

Lapis had his attack charged and was ready. "Kaio-Ken times 20!" he fired his large beam of attack at 23.

The cyborg sure as hell didn't deem it possible that there was a level higher than Kaio-Ken times 20. If anything, it had to be a bluff. "Times wha-!"

A huge explosion in the middle of the sky followed. 23 could only block it at the very last moment. Tien looked up, hoping for the end result to be in the cyborg's defeat. The laughs coming from above confirmed that it was the polar opposite of what he hoped for. 23 appeared a bit tattered in clothing but didn't care. "That was a strong attack. Could have gotten me if I wasn't prepared." He then put on a straight face. "Too bad I have to do away with you much quicker now."

Tien powered up, doubling his Kaio-Ken times ten, as did Lapis. If they were going to come out of this alive, then they would have to give it their entire all.

Krillin was still forced to grovel at 22's feet, barely able to move a simple muscle. He aimed his hand for the back of the bald fighter's head, getting ready to end him this instant. "Sayonara."

"Not so fast!" Yamcha came from the side, ramming his shoulder into 22's left cheek. He knocked the cyborg off balance and had him fall over on his behind. He quickly rolled over back onto his two feet, battle ready. The former bandit's aura was much fiercer now, having amped it up to a Kaio-KenX20 like his other allies. If it was to take this much to defeat him, then so be it. He hopped off his back foot, his hands looking as if they'd come with a series of claw attacks. "WOLF!" One hardened punch was blocked by 22, though Yamcha didn't stop there. "Fang!" Yamcha tried for two quick strikes, which were both easily evaded due to quick head movement from 22's part. "FIST!" He managed to get one clean strike and followed through with dozens more, coming at 22 with blinding speeds, striking him at various angles.

Krillin moved his head to look at his friend fighting for him. The former monk struggled to get up, it being a lot harder with one broken arm. Yamcha was moving too fast for him to remotely see just exactly how he was hitting 22. The only strike he saw was a quick knee to the chest, which sent 22 flying into a little shop through a glass window.

"Now have a taste of this!" Yamcha placed his left hand over his right wrist. A bright light of energy generated just a few inches from the palm of his right hand. It was his favorite attack to use, but he never got to use it as much as he would have liked. Now was the perfect time for it "Sokidan!" He directed it towards 22 with his two fingers. The entire little shop went up in flames, just as well as the rest of the entire area.

Yamcha turned around, smirking. He gave Krillin a thumbs up and a wink. "Now that's how you take care of business." His eyes slowly moved upward, seeing Tien and Lapis taking on 23 as one, forcing the cyborg to the edge with their powers. "I'll go help them out, Krillin." Yamcha shot off into the air.

"Yamcha, no!" The fact that Yamcha had his back turned meant that he wasn't going to be able to see what was going on behind him. Krillin, however, very well could. His sudden cry alerted Yamcha as well as Tien and Lapis, who both got knocked to the ground due to dropping their guards. Krillin, seeing no other option, pounced into the sky, just meters behind Yamcha's back. The former monk took on a direct blast that came from the same building 22 was knocked into moments earlier. The excruciating heat of such a powerful and compelling attack elicited an intense scream of agony from the expert martial artist.

"K-Krillin!" Yamcha cried out.

"GAHHHHH!" It was like a burning electric shock taking place from his very toes to the top of his clean-shaven head. After a few seconds of physical torment, the attack died out. This left Krillin hunched over, taking deep heavy breaths. His orange turtle hermit gi was in pieces, revealing all parts of the darkened body of his that now emitted hot steams of smoke. "R-Run..." Using the last breaths he could, Krillin slowly descended down to the ground, falling flat on his face.

None of his allies could feel any life force coming from him.

Seeing Krillin fall so suddenly took Tien by surprise. He felt something bad would happen to him the moment he let Krillin travel alongside him. He secretly felt that Krillin would only hold him back, but he didn't want to reject him from doing what he felt was right: that being to protect his own family and the very home he cherished. If only he had known what was to happen. It was his fault.

"You bastard!" Tien let out a roar of rage, powering up to the absolute limit of Kaio-Ken yet again.

Yamcha, much like Tien, did the exact same. Had he not turned his back and truly finished the job, then Krillin wouldn't have died the way he did. He, like the tri-clops, felt a sinch of guilt too and felt extremely obligated to pay his friend back with vengeance against the person to take his life. "RAHHHHHH!"

Lapis, though not feeling as hurt by it, definitely felt something. The man was his sister's wife and he knew just how much he felt to her. The sadness she'd most likely put on display at the revelation of her husband's death would be devastating towards her. If there was anything he hated in life, it was seeing his sister upset. He powered up as well and charged an attack. He stuck both of his hands out, trying for a technique he had yet to use in battle. Now called for this very traumatic occasion.

"Fotonfurasshu!" His energy waves fired off a blue light, though surrounded by a white energy, very thick in size and zooming in on 22 extremely fast.

"Tri beam!"

"Kamehameha!"

22 watched as all these blasts came at him from 3 separate angles. He didn't know what to do at the current moment and he didn't truly have very much time to think about his next move. Reacting as quickly as he could, he simply put both of his hands out in an attempt to block all the attacks.

23 watched from above with his hands behind his back. He knew well enough that he could have intervened and prevented the defeat of 22 if he had so desired, though he was beginning to realize something. As much as he would enjoy killing the rest, he felt he had to retreat to base, where he knew Androids 19 and 20 would most definitely reside at for the current moment.

22 tried his best to defend himself, though to no avail. The powers of three fierce warriors with a means for retribution wasn't going to let him get away so easily. It was only a matter of seconds before he was overpowered by their attacks. Once he was overwhelmed, he simply exploded to bits. The burning buildings in the entire area had now all fallen, still in a fit of flames. 22 would just be another piece to that fire now.

Once the attacks had died down, Lapis immediately turned around and looked back into the air, his eyes at the exact spot he remembered cyborg 23 to be just a while ago. When he saw nothing but smoke blocking the clouds of the sky, he looked back at the broken roads and cursed.

"He escaped," Tien said flatly, just as disappointed as Lapis was. He had already reached the goal of getting revenge for his Krillin, though there was still a void deep inside. The lives for Launch and Chaotzu still needed to be avenged. Without that being done, Tien didn't know how he was going to be able to live with himself, regardless if he was to bring Chaotzu back to life or not.

Yamcha was on his knees, hands on his lap, looking down at the body of his now dead friend. Krillin had risked his own life just to save his. Although he and Krillin knew each other for a long time now, he'd never thought that he'd do such a thing. It meant a lot to him. His secret cries of grief slowly turned into anger. He picked the bald guy up from underneath and stood back on his two feet.

"Krillin!"

And then the mother of his child showed up. Lazuli flew down as fast as a rocket. She barely slowed down her momentum, skidding through the street once she landed so recklessly. When she caught her footing, she came running directly over to Yamcha, who was carrying him. Seeing her husband's head and feet dangling the way they were told her everything she needed to know. She just had to see.

"K-Krillin..." She rubbed her husband's cheeks. Just how much pain had she had to go through? She had already lost her brother before, and now Krillin. Things such as being able to resurrect dead loved ones truly didn't matter, it was the principle of it all. No matter what, nobody wants a loved one to go under any circumstances. The blonde dug her face into Krillin's burned chest while he was being held by Yamcha, who had to hold in tears of his own.

The entire atmosphere was dismal and Lapis hated it. "What the hell are we going to do?" He looked back into the sky. "It took three of us at Kaio-Ken times 20 just to be able to take one of them out..."

"And he's the weaker one," Tien finished.

"That's where the true problem lies," Lapis said, locking eyes with Tien. The two were silent for a moment, hoping to come up with some ideas. The twin brother of Lazuli then scoffed and looked back at the ground. He couldn't come up with anything.

"Perhaps I can help."

That same old gruff voice didn't take anybody by surprise. None had to look at Piccolo to even know it was him. The Namekian stood atop one of the burning wrecked cars, his cape flapping strongly. None knew if Piccolo was still enemy or foe. But they could use any type of help they could get right now. And if he had something that would propel them towards the goal of ridding of the remnants of the Red Ribbon Army, then they were all ears.


	58. The Search

After giving out his orders and eating a delectable and luxurious meal, filling up his belly just right, Kakarot had exited the imperial building and was on the simple land of the planet, below the landing site. Down here, there were no trees, but pure ground with a spacious area. It was getting dark out and the purple clouds were beginning to emerge. Hundreds of various soldiers had Kakarot encircled, their undivided attention placed on him.

Kakarot looked around, making sure he was to see all of the people. "All of those who are true warriors, ones who have gone out to conquer under the name of the former ruler Freeza, raise your hand." And just like that, well over 300 hands shot up through the air. "Now down."

Dedana and Vino were the only ones who weren't in the circle, nor were they apart of it. They both hovered in the sky, looking down below. The Andedian woman leaned over and whispered in Vino's ear. "What does he have up his sleeve?"

"Just watch," Vino said. "I'll tell you about what's going on later."

"It took a lot for me to admit that I truly didn't want to do the wine business. I wanted to try something humane outside of a humane world, but recently I've had an epiphany: that simply isn't who I am."

"So that means we're going to start conquering worlds again?" one of the soldiers asked. The simple idea of that had many of the others pumped up. They loved to kill for their money. That was all they knew how to do now since being governed by Freeza. Some of the men expressed just how much they were against the idea of a wine trade and began to hoop and holler.

"Quiet down," Kakarot said. Two words and all of the men went hush. Some just couldn't bear to hide their own excitement. "Some things will remain the same, though compromises must be made. If we are to run a business the way I see it, then a lot of cuts will have to happen." Only a rare few of the men truly comprehended what Kakarot was insinuating and this had them beginning to shake nervously. "Though not only that, but I really do not like the idea of having to share with people who may think of backstabbing me the first chance they can get." Kakarot whipped his hand from under his cloak attached to his armor and shot one of the soldiers in the front line of the circle dead on. The moment he was struck, he fell down to his knees, croaking incoherent words prior to falling on his face.

Some gasps were heard amongst the crowd, and others began to mumble. Many of them were left completely bewildered. Just what example was the Saiyan trying to make?

"What was that for?" Dedana asked Vino.

"Watch..."

"And I simply do not wish to share millions of things I could have at my beck and call with thousands of others. Everything belongs to me now." Kakarot raised his other hand now, firing away a much larger attack. Once an explosion came, dozens of individuals could be seen flying up into the sky.

"W-What are you doing!?"

Kakarot grinned. "What do you think?" The Saiyan hopped off his back foot and attacked them all at once.

* * *

Back on the now ruined Amenbo Island, the attack of the cyborgs had been successfully carried. Not only did they manage to kill a bunch of civilians, as if the main goal to kill all earthlings, but they got one of the strongest warriors to fall directly into a trap, resulting in the death of one of their beloved friends. Though only one of the cyborgs were defeated in the process with the other one managing to flee, it wasn't much of a big deal. None in the crew knew how to track him as it was impossible to sense the ki of a mechanically enhanced human, or a complete android for that matter.

And now, a solution was trying to be brought up, by none other than the man named Piccolo himself.

"And how could you even be able to help?" Lazuli asked, being the first to speak up. She, like the others, could feel the Namekian's power-level. He was weaker than all of them. "You'd end up just as bad as Krillin..."

Piccolo glared daggers at her. He and the rest knew she was right, though he was yet to get a chance to even explain himself. "I wasn't referring to me helping you out in the field of battle. As a matter of fact, there is something that just may be able to help you beat the man that fled."

"Before you even tell us, did you witness all that happened?" Lapis asked.

"Yes," Piccolo answered.

"Good," Tien said. "So you know who we're dealing with."

The Namekian nodded. He looked at Lapis and Lazuli. "Now the two of you may get what I'm referring to when I mean extra help." The twins had no idea and weren't catching on. They were with a blank stare. Piccolo huffed and crossed his arms. "You two trained under Kami, so you must know. There's this special room."

Their eyes then lit up. Being disciples of Kami, both Lapis and Lazuli urged to try the Room of Spirit and Time just to show the man that they were capable of dealing with the pressure. Suffice to say that they didn't survive a week.

"What room?" Yamcha asked, not understanding.

"The room of Spirit and Time," Lapis answered, all the while looking at Lapis. "The place can't be just called a room, but it's like an entirely different dimension. An entire day out here would be one simple year in there."

"What!?" Yamcha exclaimed. "Y-you're kidding!?"

"He's not," Lazuli said. "Lapis and I didn't even last five days in there according to the room's clock." She wiped her tears with her sleeve and sniffled. "The climate changes dramatically since like a real world, the room of spirit and time goes through an entire year. For a moment, it could go from raging hot to ice cold. The air is thin and the gravitational pull is much higher."

"I would have to assume that training there is hard," Yamcha concluded.

"But the benefits must be otherworld like," Tien commented, looking more on the positive side than Yamcha.

"They are," Piccolo said, speaking to Tien mostly. "Just exactly how I managed to overpower Kakarot and that other Saiyan that night. If it weren't for me using the chamber, then I wouldn't have been anywhere near that level."

"That explains a lot," Yamcha said. "I wondered how you were able to become so strong. Heh, I had to use the Kaio-Ken against you when I came back from the otherworld."

Piccolo's head shifted over to Yamcha's arms. "Speaking of the otherworld..."

The former bandit looked down into his arms, only to see nothing there. His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets when he didn't see the body of his dead friend. Yamcha turned around and started to look around the fiery place. "K-krillin...!? Where did he go!?" He knew Krillin felt so much lighter all of a sudden. He couldn't believe he wasn't able to notice something like a dead body suddenly vanishing from him.

"Calm down," Piccolo said. "That's Kami's work. If anything, he's sending him to the upper world, much like he did with you."

"With Kaio-Sama?" Tien asked, raising a brow. "If he gets to train there, then he'll become a lot stronger."

"He might be able to even use the Kaio-Ken," Lapis said. "That'd come in handy for him." He looked back to his sister and put his hand on her shoulders. "As tragic as his death is, sis...think of it as a blessing in disguise. Trust me, he'll be in good hands."

The reassurance of such a thing put a smile on Lazuli's face. "How much time will he need to train up there?"

"I'd give it a couple months," Lapis said. "Let him become stronger so he'll be more capable of protecting his family like he wants. Then we can wish him back just a week or so before your dated wedding, whenever you want in the appropriate time."

"Hm!" Piccolo unfolded his arms. "Enough of the chit-chat. Are you going to head over to the look-out or what?"

"What will you do in the meantime?" Tien asked.

"As bad as this is, I'll only be capable of keeping a look-out over things from these things. If I happen to find any information on them or anything else relating to our predicament, then I'll be sure to head over there and tell you about it."

"Good to know," Yamcha said. "Just setting all the differences aside, we owe a lot of thanks to you, Piccolo."

"Ahuh. Before you go, keep in mind that the place is set for only 2 people at once. More people are allowed, but two or less would be much better set. There is a limit of 48 hours and can only be entered twice. If you exceed these limits, then the entrance to that dimension and this will be closed and you'll be trapped there forever."

"Good to know," Tien said, chuckling. "I was going to stay in there for as long as it took to get stronger than them for sure."

"One day is all you need each," Piccolo said. "I wouldn't waste the second, not unless something more worthy has come along. Good luck." Being the man he was, Piccolo didn't share any more conversation and rocketed off through the skies of planet earth.

"I'm starting to not be able to bear this heat," Yamcha said. "Let's get out of here." The four shot off, their next destination being the look-out.

* * *

"What do you mean we should wait?"

23 had retreated back to Android 20's secluded lab. Here inside this room filled with various neon lights, the man formerly known as Tao was having a conversation with the brilliant scientist Dr. Gero turned life sucking android. "Not all of earth's strongest fighters are here. We wait until the rest come back, then we strike."

While they were having this discussion, 19 and 20 were touching up on one of their top projects. The white puppet android was currently doing most of the work since 20 had to speak with 23. "You think that'd work out, truly? When the others come back, especially that unpredictable brat Ox, then they will have even more strength in numbers. What happens if they overpower you?"

23 chuckled. "They won't. None were even strong enough to handle me. They were capable of multiplying their powers 20 times and couldn't touch me. Those earthlings are now the strongest on the planet, even with the assistance of that little boy and his father. If I can take care of them, then the rest would never manage."

"Hm..." 20 grabbed a drill and tinkered with it for a bit. 23 just awaited a response. Once the drill no longer was being put to work, he handed it over to 19, who sat it on a desk with other countless tools, some even unfamiliar to this world. "If what you say is true, then I want you to find them and kill them. Once the ones out of space come, then they won't know what hit them. From there on, I will use you and my special Android 16 to deal with them all. That sound nice to you?"

"Makes sense," 23 said.

"Very well then. Don't just stand around here. Go find and kill those pests. Do what you must to garner their attention."

"As you wish."

Once 23 left the room, 20 began to work more. "In just days, will my dream project come true." He had a proud grin over his face. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for it to come true. With the creation of 16, he will be the most fierce android with the mission to destroy all humans. None will be capable of standing in his way and we shall rule over all." He then looked over to 19. "Once we're done with this planet, perhaps we can move on to another."

"Hehehehehe," the robotic laughter echoed throughout the laboratory. 20 had gathered the pieces of the man known as Dr. Gero's son and had been working on him as well as other projects non stop for the past few years from the moment the Red Ribbon Army failed in taking over the world. Sooner or later, his plan would come to fruition thanks to his own genius ideas and all will be as they should be in his own eyes. He waited this moment like no other.

* * *

Kakarot towered over the countless lifeforms before him. All of these individuals did indeed once have the capability to live, though their lives were taken away by that very person. The Saiyan felt a sudden release come over him as he crushed and pulverized each and every soldier on the entire planet itself. Bodies were stacked on top of bodies, some limbs detached and even broken teeth simply lying on the ground.

"Wow!" Saru walked circles around Kakarot, scrutinizing him intensely. "Out of everything you just did, you don't even have the blood of your enemies on you. Now that's what I call a flawless victory."

"So what's next?" Vino asked, descending down behind Kakarot.

The Saiyan turned around and faced both Vino and Dedana. "Dedana and I will dispose of the bodies while you, Vino, will go get our ship ready. We'll be headed to the nearest planet Freeza used to own from here and take care of all their soldiers as well."

"Yes." Vino ascended to the sky and took off. "I'll also be sure to let the other workers in the area know to continue their jobs."

"Good," Kakarot said.

Dedana kicked over one of the fallen bodies, her arms folded. "So this is what we're doing now? Just forgetting the wine trade?"

"Yes," Kakarot said. "There will be more to do with less to worry about this way. Not to mention, a lot of fun fighting."

Dedana then sighed. "But...the wine trade was a really good idea, Kakarot."

"Yeah, but what I now have planned is much better and exciting." He grinned. "No worries, you'll grow to like it."

Dedana nodded. "You make a point. We're just going to be killing the other soldiers Freeza has had on other owned planets, right?" Kakarot responded with a nod. This made Dedana feel good in some way, knowing that they weren't truly doing any evil. "Then let's give it to the bastards that deserve it."

"Heh. Well said." Kakarot walked by Dedana, ki being produced in the palm of his hand. "Now let's dispatch of these cretins."

Dedana did the same as Kakarot, forming a ball of energy in her hands as well. The two let out a blinding light in the middle of the field, doing away with the entire set of fallen soldiers with one single attack.

* * *

"Surprised?" Yamcha asked, pointing at Kami with his face towards the twin sister of Lapis.

Lazuli was in for a shock when she saw Kami. The man who was supposed to be old looked well over a few hundred years younger now. There were no wrinkles and he looked extremely brand new. But that wasn't really the main thing that got her by surprise. "His power..."

"A lot has happened on Namek," Kami started. "That much I can tell you. Just know, regardless of how I look, nothing about me has changed."

"I second that," Mr. Popo said as he walked by, attending to his personal garden.

"You know why we're here," Tien spoke.

"Yes. Piccolo had sent you here. If I am correct, he told you about the Room of Spirit and Time, yes?"

"Yeah," Lapis answered. "Quite frankly, I forgot all about it. It never occurred to me that we could use such a thing to become stronger in such a short amount of time. It could really help us out a lot."

"Yes, there is no better time than now to use it now. Piccolo pushed himself to endure the room. At your current power, I'm sure you all will be able to do so as well."

"My sis and I will be the first ones to enter today," Lapis called out. "I have a lot to teach in a short amount of time."

"Fine by me," Yamcha said. "So if Piccolo has any information about these androids, then we will be the ones he tells."

"Guess so," Tien said.

Lapis and Lazuli were already making their way towards the room, entering Kami's big abode just to make their way there. Kami looked over to both Yamcha and Tien. "The threats of these cyborgs really is something extreme, isn't it?"

"Hm." Yamcha had a stern look on his face. "These guys aren't a joke now. Though they managed to kill me back then, now it's totally different. We've gotten so much stronger these past few years, yet that other guy looks extremely strong."

"He is," Tien confirmed. "Lapis and I could barely handle him in our strongest states...and we fought as one."

"Yes, we saw," Mr. Popo spoke, butting in on the conversation.

"And he's still out there," Kami said. He walked over to the edge of his look-out, his eyes looking through the clouds that would block any normal person's vision. "Piccolo is out searching for him still."

"So he's going to continue terrorizing the planet while we have no choice but to wait?" Yamcha asked.

"That would be so," Kami said. "Though many lives will be lost in the process, this is for the greater good. When all is said and done, we will use the Dragon Balls to bring everyone back and restore all the damage done."

"But that's two wishes," Yamcha said. "Can't you only grant one with the Dragon Balls?"

"I've managed to strengthen the Dragon subsequent to my arrival on earth," Kami said. "Shenron now allows for three wishes to be granted." Seeing Yamcha's jaw nearly dropped made it a hard little time for Kami as he had to hide a little smile from his face.

"So you'll only be using two of the three wishes," Tien said.

"Yes," Kami said. "Using two of three wishes, then we'll only have to wait eight months until we use another."

"Using that wish, Krillin won't have time to train." Yamcha looked over to Tien, then back to Kami. "Why don't you use the first to restore everything back? That way the balls will let us grant wishes in four months instead and we'll be able to wait about five or six months to bring everyone else back and everything will be normal again?"

"I see you're finally using that head of yours for once," Tien pointed out, chuckling.

Kami smiled. "Good idea, Yamcha. It would be best we let Krillin do his training, too."

"So that's all settled," Yamcha said. "What now?"

"Just wait," Mr. Popo advised. "If I were the two of you, I'd do some mental training. If you're not training physically, work the brain."

"Agreed," Kami said. "You two are familiar with meditation, yes?"

The two martial artists nodded. Both distanced themselves from one another for a moment prior to sitting down in a lotus position to being their personal training: the training of the mind.

* * *

Piccolo scoured the skies of Planet Earth, trying to look for 23. The Namekian was getting frustrated because of the fact that he wasn't able to sense the kid of a simple cyborg. "Tch! I feel like I'm on some damn wild goose chase. Such a pointless trip."

"Pointless?" Piccolo turned around. Here was 23, the man he had spotted just moments earlier. Here he had been looking for him the entire time, yet he has been the one to be spotted instead of the contrary. If it were to turn like this, then things were truly not in Piccolo's favor. "What I feel is kind of pointless is how I'm currently not capable of finding those weaklings I've managed to hold myself against not long ago. Mind me asking where they are?"

"Do I look like some fool to you?"

"No. You look like some fool that's about to die within a 45-second timeframe. Now this time I will demand that you tell me: where are they?"

Piccolo grinned. The Namekian had giant and cold beads of sweat falling down his face, though he didn't care. No matter if the situation would cost him his life, he was willing to fight. However, he knew to play smarter than that. Dying here would mean Kami's death, something he nor anyone else could afford at the current moment.

23 watched as Piccolo fizzled out of sight. He showed no movements and a lack of concern for the Namekian's whereabouts. He shifted his head to the side, avoiding an attempted choke from behind. Tao turned around, elbowing Piccolo in the process. Said Namekian was grabbed by the collar of his turban and had his face rammed by 23's.

A gash was visible on Piccolo's forehead in addition to a cut lip, both of which bled. "You and I know it'll be much simpler if you just tell me where they are. I don't intend on having to look for them for hours at a time. I have other matters to take care of as well."

"Hah!" Piccolo smashed his hand into 23's face, building up ki to fire at him dead on.

23 grabbed Piccolo's arm and crushed it with his forearm. Piccolo was picked up and tossed over 23's head, sent soaring through the skies. As he was flying upside down, 23 rushed him and began to pummel his face in, rendering him a series of constant blows. "You. Are. Going. To. Tell. Me. WHERE. THEY. ARE!" Piccolo got a good and hard punch to the chin and crashed hard into the ground below.

23 stuck his glowing index finger out and aimed it for Piccolo. "I afraid that your 45 seconds are coming to an end. Prepare to perish!"

"Hey, why can't you pick on someone else actually worthy huh?" 23 had turned around, just wondering what or whom could have been coming for him. Out of the window of the car was a fat chubby looking guy. It happened to be none other than Yajirobe himself.

"You can die first!" he then aimed his finger for Yajirobe.

"Oh, shit!" The fat samurai opened the doors of his car and re-directed his vehicle down. The hood of his ride had been grazed by 23's attack, which had sent the entire top flying off. Yajirobe directed the car back for 23 once more. He took his hands off the steering wheel and had his finger over one button. The man was beginning to get teary-eyed. "I'm going to miss you, baby!" He pressed the button, grabbed his sword, and jumped out of the car.

Nitro had been initiated, utilizing a much faster pace of velocity and momentum. As soon as the car made contact with 23, it exploded. "GERONIMO!" The pudgy samurai landed softly on his Geta made of wood. He got over to Piccolo, assisting the Namekian in getting up. "We need to get the hell out of here right now before we both die!"

Piccolo ignored the throbbing pain he felt in his face and did what had to be done. He grabbed Yajirobe and shot into the sky, firing off a multitude of energy balls towards the ground in an attempt to build up a smoke screen. Once it was big enough, Piccolo flew off into the sky as fast as he could, leaving the premises within seconds.

23 brushed aside all the debris of the car and looked down. "GRRR! Where'd that asshole go?!" He kept looking and ended up with nothing. "Tch! How can't I spot some fat wannabe hero?" Quickly remembering what he had to do, he looked back to where he last saw Piccolo. The dust and smoke he built up slowly faded and yet all he managed to see was green grass. "Him, too!?" 23 shook his head. "So it was a trick! He used that as a distraction to save the green man. Heh!" 23 took off into the sky, going the exact opposite direction of where Piccolo went. "Now I need to find you, too!"

Now feeling that he managed to create enough distance from 23, Piccolo lowered his energy and as a result, slowed down his flight so he could go undetected. He was holding Yajirobe by the hand, giving the man a lift. And quite frankly, Piccolo wasn't really liking it.

"Can't you fly?" The Namekian asked.

"Hah! I wish! I'm not like those other guys, but I'm still pretty strong."

"I see." Piccolo looked at the man. "Who are you and why did you save me?"

"I'm Yajirobe," the man replied honestly. "And well, it wasn't really up to me to risk my life and my baby to save you. It was up to a friend of mine."

"A friend?" Piccolo stopped his flying. "Who?"

"He lives just under the look-out," Yajirobe answered. "His name is Karin, a smart guy. He thinks he can help you out. That's why he had me save your life."

"I see..." Piccolo then suddenly shot forth down towards the ground.

The pace of speed was far too quick for Yajirobe to muster and he couldn't deal. "Hey!" he cried out. "What the hell are you doing!? Stop going so god damn fast, please!"

Piccolo came to an automatic halt just inches before he could make contact with the ground. From there he dropped a dizzy Yajirobe, letting him be. "You should be able to fend for yourself here. Thanks." Piccolo shot off through the sky, heading towards the look-out.

"What the hell man!" Yajirobe shouted. "I just saved yur friggin' life and this is how you repay me? You drop me and say thanks!? What a load of crock shit." He flipped off the Namekian from behind and didn't end up with the satisfaction that he was hoping to get.

* * *

Karin, the man Yajirobe spoke of to Piccolo, was just walking around the place. He, like Kami, knew pretty much of what was going on in the world. This wasn't the first time the planet itself had faced such a danger and he didn't know if this would truly be the last. All he did know was that he hoped for the same result as the others: with someone being capable of saving this planet and having peace restored for as long as possible.

He simply attended to his pots, for the time being, seeing them all be filled up with water. "Hm...full." He went to an urn pot, seeing it being filled with water as well. "And full." He clapped his hand, wiping dust from it prior to grabbing at his cane. "All done." Karin for some reason was one to always remain optimistic, even in the worst of times. Though not truly powerful compared to those like Kami or Popo, he was a god compared to the normal human. He was also known to have an extraordinary sixth sense. "Welcome, Piccolo." The white furry cat turned around, plucking a senzu bean over to him.

Piccolo caught the bean and ate it, letting the healing influence take over him for a moment. The gash on his forehead and the cut on his lip went away, the only thing being present having to be the dried up blood. "What is it that you want with me?"

"I don't want anything with you, Piccolo." Karin walked over near a table of his. On the table resided a small cup and a wooden water pot. "My only intentions are to help you become stronger. This has nothing to do with merely helping you, but also helping the people of earth. You're the only one at the current moment capable of protecting it and you need to be as strong as possible."

Protecting the earth? That was never something Piccolo thought of, not from the day he was born and onto the day he was reincarnated. Such a notion had never been suggested, but the idea of becoming stronger always stuck with him. "I'm listening."

"All I ask of you is to drink this." He pointed at the cup filled with what simply appeared to be water.

Piccolo was somewhat suspicious. "You're telling me all I need to do is drink this? Hn! You didn't bring me over here just to bullshit, did you? I survive on water...!"

Karin could tell that Piccolo was feeling a bit annoyed, thinking that he was simply being played with. He kept a calm and nonchalant demeanor and nodded. "No, not if the earth's fate was at stake. I wouldn't dare play with anybody at times like these. I know at face value, it may be just water, though it is much deeper than that, Namekian. Only 13 people before you have ever tried to drink this special water and none managed to survive. This is generally not meant for humans and only meant for those who truly have not only a strong but mental will. If one is to surpass this, then they shall surpass their own current limits. I see nobody else except you at the current moment that is capable of drinking and possibly surviving its effects."

Piccolo was quite reluctant, though he could tell by the look on Karin's face that he wasn't joking. One wouldn't just waste time like this, bring in some random guy to save his life and make up some story such as this just to fool with him. Curiosity was getting the best of Piccolo and he wanted to try it out. He neared the cup of water and picked it up.

"It's best you just gulp it all down," Karin advised Piccolo. "It's not the best water in the world."

Piccolo stared down the cup for a while, more than he would have liked. 13 people have tried and all failed. However, there was one mismatch: he wasn't human. He was stronger than any average Namekian and had a strong mental mind as well. He opened his mouth and raised the cup, downing all the water that it held.

Piccolo slammed the cup back on the wooden table and let out a refreshing sigh, all with a smile. "I don't feel anythi..." he then paused.

Karin grinned. "You will in a little bit, ehehehehee..."

* * *

The Namekian fell over to his knees, eyes wide. Now he was going through the same ringer that those before him had been through. He just simply wished the pain out of all this would be worth it in the end.

"This room brings back a lot of unwanted memories..."

Lapis and Lazuli were both in the Room of Spirit and Time. From the very moment they got there, neither of them wasted any time. Though Lapis was a bit stronger than his sister was, he was extremely exhausted, too. He had forgotten just how bad it could get in here.

He had on no shirt, only wearing his jean pants. Lazuli had on no shirt as well but she kept her bra on. Their hair that was soaked in sweat seemed to not be able to remove itself from their glistening faces.

"Don't give out on me right now, sis," Lapis said, egging Lazuli on. "I still haven't even begun to teach you the Kaio-Ken yet. Come on."

"S-Senzu bean..." the woman huffed and puffed.

Lapis shook his head. "We're going to fight without them! And Krillin sure as hell wouldn't appreciate your loser mentality!"

Those words sparked a fire in Lazuli's eyes. A sudden energy became over her that she hadn't felt before in the line of fighting since the death of her brother. "Rah!" she hopped off her back foot, going for her brother.

The two were trading constant blows back and forth, fighting through their own weariness just to push themselves beyond their own limits. Lapis knew he had to push his sister in order for her to become stronger and have a higher chance of protecting the earth. They needed to overcome now more than ever.

Lazuli constantly had Krillin in her thoughts, though she knew not exactly what her husband happened to be going through. If she had truly known, she would be surprised at what he was doing. Like his friends before him, Krillin had to be put through the trial of going through the serpent road just to be worthy of being trained by Kaio-Sama.

* * *

Krillin had a luxury that most others did not their first time: that being a higher endurance and quicker speed. The serpent road was 1 million kilometers long and this only took Krillin hours to get there. For others, it would take days and even months to be able to do so.

The bald martial artist was on the edge of the serpent road, directly on the snake's head. He had no idea what to do next and simply closed his eyes. Once he sensed a power, he hopped up off the snake. Krillin was used to being on higher gravitational worlds, so this wasn't really anything for him. He could feel a strong pull so he let his body fall down as it wanted.

He landed just on a small little planet, one that dwarf planets would outcast as being far too small. Krillin couldn't believe what he was seeing. This place was small but rather decent. The light violet skies with the puffy yellow clouds were beautiful. There was a small house and one tree with a car even!

"Wow!" For a small planet, he took a liking to it. For some reason, the midget felt that he could familiarize himself with this little world just fine.

"We've been expecting you, Krillin."

"Ah?" The sudden voice took him by surprise and he jumped. Turning behind, he noticed this blue guy not that much taller than himself, fixing his shades. Just upon seeing the kanji on the man's apparel, Krillin bowed out of respect. "Kaio-Sama! It must be you."

"Ohhh!" King Kai whiffed the handkerchief he had a bit. "It's not so often that mortals give me the respect that you give me, Krillin."

"Well, you are of higher status sir, hehee.."

"Yes." King Kai placed his hands behind his back. "I'm aware of what's happening on Planet Earth and it just so happens to be that you've been met with the misfortune of having to come here."

"Sort of a misfortune and a blessing," Krillin said.

"Why would you say that?"

"A misfortune because a father of children is gone, but a blessing because I can train under you and be able to become strong enough to be able to protect my loves ones the way I should be able to! Even if I'm dead, I can only make the best out of it, right?"

"I like your attitude, Krillin. Well, now that I see that you're truly eager to train under me, you have to undergo one simple test if you want to be called my student."

Krillin nodded his head, a face of seriousness and anticipation. Whatever King Kai had for him, he was ready to take it. Anything to become a stronger version of himself for all his personal, but good intentions.

"You've gotta tell me a joke..."

Krillin's jaw dropped. 'Out of all things...' The former monk fell over on his back-anime style.


	59. Events Continue

23 looked around his area, constantly searching for the Namekian he was just mere moments ago from killing. After flying in the rocky lands for five minutes within the same 50-mile radius he set himself up for in order to accomplish his personal hunt, he came to a frustrating stop. The former mercenary crinkled his nose with a frown, deeply disappointed in his lack of success in killing Piccolo, one of the strongest people of this world that Android 20 felt destined to take over.

"I must find some way to gain their attention so I can bring them to me." While hovering in the sky, he briefly brainstormed, trying to exploit different angles in that he'd be capable of reeling in some of the earthlings so he could kill them. As soon as an idea came to mind, a mischevious smirk appeared on his face. He shot off west, headed directly to the nearest city.

* * *

From up above, Kami had been keeping a close eye on what was going down on earth. He had a hard time tracking 23 down as there was no life form able to be sensed, though when he did find him, he silently hissed.

Tien and Yamcha both quickly took note and ceased their mental training immediately. Tien's two eyes were closed, but his third one was peaking over at Kami. Yamcha had them both open and his head was in the God's direction.

"What's going on?" Yamcha asked.

"He's headed for the cities," Kami said, "surely with the intention of resuming his killing spree to another region, exactly equal to what he had started earlier."

"No doubt he's trying to get our attention so we could go confront him," Tien concluded.

"And die in the process," Yamcha added.

"Yes," Kami said, answering them both, "But as I said before, we must wait. I know it true that we will all eventually prevail. When we do, we will use the Dragon Balls to bring everyone besides Krillin back. That's the plan and we must stick to it. No matter the pain caused in the current moment, everything shall be worth it in the end."

"I like how you think," Tien said, "Focusing on the negative right now won't get us anywhere." Once he said his piece, Tien closed his third eye. "Let's continue our training, Yamcha."

"Right!" Yamcha closed his eyes as well and resumed the mental training they had been doing for the past half hour now.

* * *

"Seriously? A joke!?"

Here Krillin was still kind of stuck on this. He was here to be trained physically, perhaps even mentally in order to personally become stronger as a whole when it came to confronting enemies. Apparently, his first step was to tell the great Kaio-Sama a joke just so he could get to doing what he had come here for.

"Yep," King Kai nodded, not kidding in the slightest.

Krillin sheepishly sighed while looking at the green grass below while scratching his shiny bald head. "Fine..." Krillin squinted his eyes for a bit. 'Now what was that book I used to tell Lazuli a couple of jokes?' He cringed at the thought of it because his fiance didn't laugh at any of them. He continued to think as King Kai and his monkey Bubbles both patiently waited. "Aha!" He rose his finger. He looked at King Kai with a deadly smirk, confident that he had the perfect joke.

King Kai fixed his shades, anticipating what was to come next. If he was to laugh, it had to be equal to the jokes that Tien and the others had told him or even greater than that.

"What did the pirate say on his 80th birthday?"

"What?" King Kai asked, leaning in.

"Aye matey!" Krillin chuckled.

Bubbles gave Krillin a thumbs down and blew a raspberry with his tongue. King Kai stood there with a blank expression, not finding it funny at all. "I...I don't get it."

"You need to spend more time on earth," Krillin remarked, a bit disappointed.

"Come on," King Kai said, "I watch over you guys once every few weeks! Trust me, that's a lot compared to the millions of worlds that are actually out there."

"Ah..." Krillin smacked his forehead. "Okay. Here's a good one." Krillin formed his hands into a fist and pretended as if he was knocking against a door. "Knock Knock."

"Ohhh boy..." King Kai was a bit excited. "Who's there?"

"Tank."

"Tank who?"

Krillin leaned back with his fists on his hips and had the back of his head facing King Kai. "You're welcome." Bubbles let out a loud yell and threw his banana into the sky before turning around and stomping his way back into King Kai's house. Krillin gawked in amazement as to how a simple ape couldn't even find that funny. "Come on! How doesn't he like that!?"

"Bubbles has heard over thousands of jokes," King Kai told Krillin, "He's so used to it that he actually likes good ones, like me. Come on, tell me another one."

"Oh my god..."

"I'm right here," King Kai said quickly.

Krillin closed his eyes and pressed his lips. Even though time went differently in other dimensions, especially in the otherworld, he could inherently feel that he was going to have a long day trying to crank out some good ones.

* * *

"I don't get it," Chi-Chi said, "How could he not want to come back home? Where he belongs?" For as long as they have been traveling, Chi-Chi had yet to go to sleep and had been in sort of a funk.

She had her son Ox, Videl and others supporting her as well. Bulma shook her head, feeling like she had mostly wasted her time for participating in saving the Saiyan's life. "We risk all of this for him and he repays us back like this. How selfish."

Dr. Briefs lit a cigarette, not as emotional as some others in the room about this situation. He knew of Kakarot, but he never spoke with him personally as much as most of the others there. Nor was he as close. "Maybe he has projects he wants to do? One never knows."

The only people in the room who knew exactly what Kakarot was up to were Ox and his mother. The six-year-old didn't know what to exactly make of all of this. That man he was looking at in that room couldn't have been his father. The kid knew not why he felt such a way, but there was a feeling inside him. He knew how his dad was and how he acted around the two. Never before was he so secluded or with a lack of emotion. Sometimes he was like that, but for a situation such as this, he would definitely be more sociable. And the ideas of going out to plunder worlds and take whatever was his by force didn't sound like something Kakarot would do either.

"He came out that chamber a different man..." Ox said.

"Seems more like his true self to me," Bulma said, still feeling quite salty about everything.

Pilaf and Soba were the ones who didn't know what to say. Out of everyone, they knew Kakarot best and he definitely didn't act like this either. Like, Ox, Pilaf, and Soba felt something was off about him. They, too, didn't have the exact answer as to what was going on with him mentally, but something was up.

"H-He'll come back, right?" Soba asked. He wasn't aware of what exactly was going on. He figured that Kakarot would get healed and then come back with them all on earth. When he was given the news that it wasn't to be so, he was truly perplexed. Was the Saiyan only away temporarily or was he gone for good?

"He'll be back," Ox said. As much as he wanted to specify what Kakarot's intentions were, he wouldn't dare say so for the time being. He didn't want Bulma bad mouthing his father off anymore, nor did he wish to put the hopes of Pilaf and Soba down. In just over nine months was when his father was meant to come back. For sure, his baby brother or sibling (unconfirmed) will be born and he'll have to protect the baby from being brought to a world of piracy. That was the worst case scenario and Ox hoped that it wouldn't have to come down to such events.

For the time being, he'd have to console his mother.

* * *

Hours had passed on earth and the sun was finally down. The stars showed brightly in the sky and there was only a crescent moon, which looked rather splendid this day. Unfortunately, the day wasn't a very beautiful one. Bit by bit was the best of it being torn down by a cyborg out on a murderous rampage.

He only killed people he saw, though not destroying buildings as he did beforehand. It had not occurred to 23 that this world was to be taken over, so they needed to make sure to keep as many resources intact as possible. Being restricted from setting buildings ablaze and turning roads into death traps, none of this surprisingly hindered him of his progress at killing people. He was able to not only sense ki, but he could sense the fear of those around him.

Countless bodies and blood lied around within the area with pools of blood. No cars were totaled within the area, none of the buildings were in a set of fire or happened to be sent crashing down. The only thing 23 focused on was the lifeforms he was ordered to exterminate in order to get the attention of those he was primarily focused on disposing of. It was a flawless massacre if one would describe it as such a thing.

The smell of death didn't bother him. It had more of a contradicting influence to be exact: it was rather pleasing to him. He had his hands behind his back, looking around the area. There was next to nothing he could sense in this very location of the North City.

"I dispose of approximately an entire city full of people and none of them are yet to come out of hiding." 23 grinned and shook his head. "It appears that going about this way will not speed up the progress of getting those bastards to come from their secluded areas. What other routes can I take?"

"You can take the route to hell!"

BANG!

23 felt a little DUNK on the side of his neck prior to hearing a few clangs on the roads beneath his feet. It wasn't anything, not even a scratch for him. He slowly turned a bit to his right, eying the very person who had struck him without him noticing.

The man before him was young, though one wouldn't be able to tell through all the scratches, gashes and bruises over his body, as well as dried up blood. His blonde sweaty hair was a complete mess. The gun in his trembling hand didn't seem like it was to fire off another precise shot if the trigger was to be pulled. Upon seeing that this monster of a thing was capable of tanking actual lethal bullets to the average human, he knew not what else to do.

He was scared for his life.

23 smiled in his fear-induced face, one that seemed full of innocence, but rather had had all of the devious intentions behind it. "And just when I think I got rid of every single person in the area, you hop out of the bag."

The man's heart sunk to the floor. He felt totally empty inside. "Y-You killed my sister...and my nieces..." He closed his eyes shut, doing his best to prevent the tears from falling. "And my wife and our unborn child!" He opened them once more, tears falling down his face. "Wh-why...? YOU MONSTER!" From the rising rage, he built up the courage to try and fire off yet again.

CLICK

CLICK

CLICK

CLICK

Nothing was coming out from the weapon. He swallowed down hard on a knot in his throat that just didn't seem to want to go down. His hand was no longer trembling out of fear, but he let the gun drop. All hope was lost and he figured that there was absolutely nothing else he would be capable of doing just to extract vengeance for his dead family members.

"I appreciate your generosity for such a self-sacrificing offering. You're a gentleman indeed." 23's eyes began to glow red for a moment. "Buh-bye!"

A laser-like beam came from his eyes and was headed right for the man to oppose him. The blonde haired victim closed his eyes, just wishing his death would be quick and painless. The sudden feeling of being lifted off the very ground came over him. He immediately opened his eyes to find himself flying in the sky. Green arms were wrapped around him and he had no idea what the hell was going on.

He came to a decent a few blocks away, his feet back on the ground. "Get out of here if you know what's best for you." Before he could turn around to meet his savior, the man took off.

He was left completely dumbfounded.

23 remained in the same exact position that he was just moments ago. He didn't expect Piccolo to come out of anywhere and save the defenseless human, but he did indeed witness the Namekian saving him. Once he sensed the Namekian within the vicinity, he turned his head to his left shoulder. "You sure do come and go at the best moments, don't you?"

Atop a building stood the Namekian, Piccolo. He had a confident smirk on his face. For hours was he coerced into tolerating the pain subsequent to taking the Ultra Divine Water rendered to him by the white cat Karin. After such a prolonging pain that took place for consecutive hours, he felt something within him come out. This newfound power was extraordinary and a new barrier of confidence was broken. He was certain he'd be capable of taking on this cyborg.

"Not only that..." Piccolo yanked off his cape, letting it fall on the roof of a car below, followed by his also weighted turban. "But I get accomplished whatever I have set in stone. And your demise is on the top of my list."

"FUFUFUFU!" 23 couldn't hold in his laughter. "Not just earlier today were you capable of beating me. I can sense some increase in power, sure, but I don't see you prevailing this battle."

Piccolo cracked his neck, as well as his knuckles. "Let's see what you think about that!"

Now was the time to show just how much more powerful he had become. He crouched down and placed his arms to his side before he tensed his entire body in an effort to power up. The sheer pressure of such strength had the building he stood atop on getting cracked in various different sections. The windows of stores and cars below either cracked or totally shattered and the light poles affixed to the sidewalks and roads were broken off as well.

This continued for just a couple of seconds until Piccolo finally reached his peak. On any normal circumstance, he would hold his power back and study his opponent until it was best to fight them. However, this special occasion didn't call for it. He knew in order to beat this cyborg, he may perhaps need to start out with 100 %. Not to mention, he already got a taste of his fighting. What more was there to study?

"Are you ready?"

23 beckoned Piccolo to come at him. With the sudden increase, he was to take the Namekian a bit more serious now.

"RAHHHHH!" Piccolo charged from the roof, which had the entire building crashing down. His fist was cocked back and the fight as just beginning.

23 anticipated Piccolo to follow through with his punch, though that wasn't what he got. Piccolo stopped in the middle of his movement. His green body slowly fizzled out of sight before suddenly disappearing.

23 was on guard now and ready. His head and eyes slowly scrutinized his surroundings and he made sure to keep a cool head. He waited for the perfect moment and ducked under a straightforward kick from behind. He raised his elbow, preventing another kick from making contact with him just in time.

Piccolo backed up and fired multiple small-sized ki attacks at the ground, kicking up smoke. 23 swayed it all to the side and rushed in for Piccolo's silhouette. Once he swung, he surprisingly only hit the air.

Piccolo came from the side, his knee sticking out. 23 skidded through the road and hopped to the side, his shoulder crashing into one of the cars in the process. Piccolo seized his quick momentum and hastily turned around prior to firing another ki attack right for his opponent.

23 smacked the ball away, re-directing it into the sky. He looked back to where Piccolo was, but his vision only showed him the street and sidewalk ahead. Piccolo was there no longer.

Piccolo hopped from atop the car that 23 crashed into, wrapping his legs around the cyborg's throat. He used his body weight and raised 23 from his feet and sent him crashing into the car's roof head first. He uncoiled his legs and rose himself back to his feet. 23 lied atop the car, where Piccolo saw it to be the perfect moment to eliminate this threat.

One arm came outstretched while his hand was covering his bicep. "So long, trash." A grand amount of ki exited from the palm of his hand towards the car that 23 lied on, blowing it up. He didn't care about being 5 yards away from the impact of the exploding car. As long as he was to fulfill his personal goal of killing this clown, then he'd be satisfied.

He stood there in the aftermath, waiting to see what was left of the cyborg. The car was in shambles and set ablaze, though he didn't see any detached parts of his enemy. If anything, he had to still be alive.

The bad thing about this battle was the fact that Piccolo wasn't able to sense the energy of cyborgs and this costed him. 23 clocked him from behind with four knuckles dug deep into the jaw. Piccolo's feet were lifted off the ground and he was sent crashing into a line of cars just away from him.

23's clothes were now ragged and burned due to the damage set upon it thanks to Piccolo. "I now realize your increase in strength was indeed not simply just some joke." He rubbed the soot from his face as well as his hands and sighed. "But for you to come in with your ego as big as the gap between our power is your downfall, fool. You should have checked yourself before you made the decision of trying to attack me head on yet again."

Piccolo got back onto his feet and spat out blood from his lip. He had the same cocky grin from earlier. He could very well tell he was in some deep trouble, but he wasn't backing out this time. "You're right. I did get ahead of myself, thinking I'd be able to beat you with my own strength. But I'm no fool. A person like me thinks ahead in situations like these. I have a plan."

"Plans only slow down the inherent inevitable failures they were consisted of. Whatever you have in mind won't come to fruition."

"Heh." Piccolo placed his index and middle finger near his forehead, preparing an attack. The sharp nails of his fingers began to flicker a purple and bright yellow color for a few seconds.

23 didn't see the harm in such a weak attack and stood, waiting. "This is the best you have?"

Piccolo shot up into the sky and aimed his fingers for the ground. "HAH!"

The drilling beam struck the ground, setting up a major explosion. The cloud of smoke kicked up this time was a few dozen feet high and very wide in size, too. 23 let his clear aura burst, doing away with the distraction instantly. "You need to come up with better tactics, you cretinous slug!"

23 looked around the area, knowing Piccolo had to have gone somewhere to catch him off guard. He looked around all over and couldn't find him. "Hm? Hiding now? Is that it?" He tried to sense for the man's ki, but yet again, absolutely nothing. "Tch!" 23 shot into the sky, above all the built structures in the area. "Now..."

DING!

"Gotchu!" 23 jerked around and dashed for one of the cars straight ahead. There he sensed Piccolo hiding, so he had to be there. The cyborg made it to the red Toyota in a split second. Much to his surprise, he was gone yet again. "W-What the?" He scowled.

"Over here, fool!" Piccolo blasted 23 on the back multiple times before stopping and dashing away yet again.

"Grrrr!" 23 took off in the exact direction he felt where Piccolo had to be going. He was somewhat agitated and wasn't going to tolerate playing this cat and mouse game the entire battle. He had other things to take care of as well. "There you are!" He leaned in towards Piccolo and attempted to knock him down.

Piccolo caught him by the pant leg and tried to sling him downward. 23 kicked Piccolo with his free foot and elbowed him in the shoulder blade prior to sending Piccolo spiraling in the back of a truck with a cross strike to the cheek.

23 descended down onto his two feet, waiting for Piccolo to get back up. "As I said before, plans only slow the inherent inevitable failures that they were made of. You can either attack me head on and make your death quick and plain sailing. Or you can waste my time and make it sedating and harrowing. Pick your poison."

Piccolo hissed as he got from the back of the truck. 'I shouldn't attack so early...I need to stall for more time if I really want this to work out.' Now all he needed to worry about was how was he going to get away this time without being fatally injured or possibly even killed. He could tell that 23 was no longer toying with him and desired to put all of this to an end.

"Now..." 23 got into a battle stance. "Let's dance."

"I'll let you do all your dancing in hell!"

The sudden yell of a person caught both Piccolo and 23's attention. It was the same man that Piccolo saved before. This time, he didn't look scared. He looked determined, determined to kill this man. He wasn't being irrational with his thinking as he knew that he wouldn't be able to kill this freak. He was being foolish, but also brave. He didn't want to die without knowing for a fact that he tried to fight for his loved ones, even if they were dead.

"Stay back!" Piccolo warned.

He heard the warning but didn't heed it. He ran as fast as he could for 23 and didn't appear to be slowing down. He wasn't going to stop until either of them dropped dead.

23 turned around his way and waited for the blonde male to near him. Once he was within a three-yard radius, he stretched his hand out, letting the person ram his forehead into it. With the speed he was running at and the high momentum he had thanks to it, the impact/force of being suddenly stopped by 23's hand had set his head into a backward motion prior to it snapping.

His eyes rolled off to the back of his head as his entire body twitched. No matter how pitiful he died, he at the very least, did it while fighting as he desired.

"Now you know all of that was for nothing." 23 punched a hole through his stomach, relishing in this beautiful kill he just made.

Piccolo shook his head. Even though this quite wasn't the best distraction, he had to use it while he could. He rose his hand in the air and came down with an energy blast. Yet again, he kicked up smoke and used it for a chance to escape.

23 turned to where Piccolo was and hissed at what he saw. "Son of a..." he tossed the man to the side and rocketed into the sky once more. "I now see that you want the slow and painful death, slug face!" He then began to laugh like a mad-man. "But there are no hard feelings. I'm glad you decided. I personally love it that way. BWAhAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Heh!" Piccolo was under the very truck that he had gotten knocked onto by his opponent. He knew that 23 would expect him to go up and dash off into the air and find a secluded spot, so he did the unexpected. He hid within the vicinity and would simply wait a while until 23 left the area before he rose his ki in one spot before taking off to another. 'I just need to keep this up until Lazuli and Lapis get out. Hopefully, this works...'

Now it was time to play the plan out just as it should have been from the get-go.

* * *

And yet still, Krillin was having an extremely hard time for coming up with the perfect joke to even remotely please King Kai. Kaio-Sama had set up an incline bench for him and Bubbles and sipped on some cool lemonade from a straw.

"Okay!" Krillin huffed. "I know you'll love this one."

"HmHm.." King Kai rolled his eyes from behind his shades. "I wonder how many times ya done said that..."

"Ahem! Why was the stadium so cold?"

"Why?" King Kai asked, yawning.

"Because there were a lot of fans."

"Ah!" King Kai raised a finger.

Krillin's eyes widened in anticipation. Could this have been it? Was this the joke that King Kai was meant to hear? If so, this meant he'd finally be able to start his training and get stronger.

"That reminds me!" He looked over at his friend. "Bubbles, go get the fan from inside the house. I'm getting a little hot with these burned out jokes." He snickered a bit with Bubbles, following up with a few snorts.

Krillin's shoulders hunched down and he frowned at the man. "Ha ha, very funny...maybe we need to put my jokes in a freezer so they can be cool enough for ya."

King Kai snorted yet again, spitting out a bit of his lemonade. While his head was over the armchair of his incline bench, he fixed his shades, which was on the verge of hitting the ground below.

'D-Did he seriously find that funny?' Not for one second did he get his own supposed joke that made King Kai laugh.

"T-That was a good one!" King Kai snorted yet again. He did the best to contain the laughter he was dying to let go, though he could only cut it down to obnoxious snorts. "'maybe we need to put my jokes in a Freeza so they can be cool enough for ya.' HA! That was clever."

"Uh..."

"It's funny! You said Freeza because there are coolers on earth called freezas. That was hilarious."

Krillin shook his head. That was neither intentional, nor was it a joke, yet here King Kai was laughing. Krillin knew he'd be an idiot to say it wasn't a joke and just went along with it. The bald martial artist smiled and placed his hands on the back of his head. "I know, I know...too good, huh?"

King Kai nodded. He got up from his incline bench and stretched out. "Now, Krillin. You've officially become a trainee of the great Kaio-Sama. You ready to begin the real training?"

With a straight face, Krillin nodded. "You're goddamn right."


	60. Synchronization

BOOM!

BOOM!

ZING!

ZING!

These were the constant sounds that resonated throughout the Room of Spirit and Time, deriving from only two people with the power of unworldly beings. Lapis and Lazuli had both just recently finished resting and got right back to it. Clear shockwaves appeared in one area, then another. Thin black lines appeared through the white space, the lines being their bodies disappearing at super speed.

Lapis was naturally stronger than his sister and used the majority of his time in the chamber to allow her to catch up. Once the gap in power was closed, they were evenly matched.

Both reappeared just ten yards away from one another, nearly out of breath. Their shoulders went up and down as well as their chest with each breath they took. The fight was closing in on the end and it was time for the finishing blow.

Lapis didn't want to waste time and zoomed in for his twin sister, who mirrored his movements. Both had their fist cocked back and their bodies tensed to deliver a hard striking blow that would very well only have one of the two come out victorious.

BAM!

Their fists equally connected with their cheek and the sound of the pressure could have been heard from far out within the chamber. Both seemed to be at a stalemate since neither of them wanted to budge. Their faces were forced to the side, but they had their eyes locked on one another. Either one or the other would have to render more pressure for the other to lose this struggle.

"You can hit harder than that, can't you?" Lapis mocked.

Lazuli glared at her brother fiercely. A sudden red glow surrounded her body prior to her shouting out a rare technique that only those durable and skilled enough were capable of obtaining. "Kaio-Ken!" Her aura turned into a red blaze of glory. With this added strength, Lapis was sent soaring through the air in the chamber. With her enhanced speed, Lazuli flew for her brother and rocked him down with an elbow to the nose. Once the twin brother crashed directly on his back, she knew it was over.

As much as Lazuli would have liked to continue for a bit more, her body did not allow her to do so. With her fatigue and great strain on her body, she wasn't able to hold herself in the air. She let the gravitational pull of the unique room overtake her and came falling to her knees. She supported herself while on the floor with her hands, huffing, and puffing. Sweat dripped from the tip of her chin as well from her hair. "I-I'm done."

"So am I, sis...so am I." Lapis slowly moved his head over to his left, checking the clock that was affixed to the central building. "We have to leave in a couple of hours the clock says."

"Then we should spend the last half hour resting..." Lazuli slowly got back to her feet. "C-Come on!" She put her fists up. Her defense was sloppy thanks to her heavy arms, which she couldn't lift up any further.

"I thought you said we were done..."

"We need as much time as we can get. Use a senzu."

Lapis groaned as he lifted himself up. "Fine..."

* * *

For hours and hours on end, 23 had been searching for Piccolo. Every so often he would get a location on the Namekian's whereabouts, though he would be tricked every time. He expected this and decided to try and outdo Piccolo, though said warrior was ready for it and remained one step ahead. Each time he did manage to catch Piccolo, which was very little, 23 wasn't successful in killing him and would have to resort to playing hide and seek.

This had been going on for hours and the sun was already up.

23 walked the streets of the city. For the past few hours now he had the same scary and intimidating scowl on his face. Piccolo had tried him for the last time. He could have killed him by now and taken care of the others, but no, he had to focus on this slug. He stopped near a car, believing he had heard something.

Piccolo was on the opposite of the vehicle with his back against the doors. He took in deep slow breaths and made sure his ki was lowered. No mortal was able to sense ki from a cyborg or android, but the presence was surely felt. 'Just a little bit longer,' Piccolo thought in his head.

"That's it. As much as I've tried to refrain from destroying the infrastructure, I don't care anymore." Slowly, he ascended himself into the air. "Other androids can be created to build the world as we see fit anyhow. This one we shall do away with!" 23 was a couple thousand feet in the area, his hand aimed at the center of the city.

Piccolo was carefully watching from below. Seeing the great amount of energy being collected in the palms of the cyborg alerted him quickly. His eyes sharpened as he concluded instantaneously what was to come next. "Shit...!"

"Buh-Bye!" 23 fired one down at the city. It struck directly through the road and continued to travel down the center. The other attack zipped by much quicker than the first one launched and easily caught up to the other attack, which was well deep enough below. The second attack made contact with the first. The cause of them coming together was an early detonation. A bright flash appeared in that hole below.

Piccolo could feel the roads cracking and shaking beneath his feet. If he wanted to remain with his life, his only option would be to fly. Doing such a thing at a time like this would blow his cover and he'd be out in the open. This was what 23 wanted and he couldn't think of anything else in order to remain covert without being noticed. He acted instinctually and pounced into the air above.

The roads were blasted through as a whole before a bright flash overtook the entire area. Once the flash was big enough, it exploded. The impact of it had Piccolo soaring upward through the clouds since he wasn't able to form enough space to get away from the vicinity.

The city was pulverized into nothing but a total wasteland. Only rock was visible to the naked eye now.

"Now..." 23 smirked. He looked in the air and spotted Piccolo flying through the air. "GOTCHU!" He zoomed in on the Namekian and made a turn so he'd maneuver himself in front of Piccolo. He stopped the Namekian's involuntary flight with one hard kick to the gut.

"PAGH!" Piccolo spewed out saliva. 23 grabbed him by both antennas and pulled his face forward just so he could ram it with his knee. "I finally..." he hit him again. "Have. You. In. My. Grasp." With each word, he struck Piccolo. He let one antenna go and held the other. Piccolo's bruised and bloody face was scrunched up. He tried his best to not let any groans of pain, though it was blatant that he was hurt. "Not only will your death be slow and painful, but this beating I am about to give you beforehand will be all the worst." He chucked Piccolo down below.

A crater within the wasteland was formed the moment Piccolo's back slammed down. "Kkk...!" He turned over on his chest and picked himself up. Once he was on his knees, he was struck back down due to a knee to the spine. His spinal chord was on the verge of breaking, though it didn't snap. "GRAGH!"

Tao picked up Piccolo by his pant leg, raised him above his head and slammed him onto his side. Piccolo coughed up dirt, just lying there. These last few hits weren't held back, not even just a bit. 23 was letting them all come 100% and he could feel it. The cyborg walked around Piccolo and looked down on him with, disgusted. "Your so-called plan only succeeded in pissing me off." He kicked Piccolo in the stomach. His entire body came off the ground, but an elbow to the shoulder blade forced him back down. 23 kneed him in the gut prior to Piccolo having the chance to fall back down and let him roll over off his leg and onto his other side.

"Now you see what I was speaking about, yes?" He placed his shoe on Piccolo's shoulder. "Plans only slow down failure. Now anybody with a strategy could win, but plans never come to fruition." Applying pressure on the Namekian's shoulder elicited a minor yell. "Don't they, Piccolo?"

He could slowly feel his bones crushing, just beginning to crack. "Aghk...!" He dug his long nails into the dirt, doing his best to bear with the pain.

"Answer me, fool!" He raised his foot and slammed it on Piccolo's shoulder. "Doesn't it!?"

"KAGHAAA!" Piccolo's mouth opened out wide, finally screaming for the first time. His shoulder was shattered to pieces.

23 chuckled. "I'm more than satisfied with that as an answer." He kicked Piccolo over onto his stomach. "Now..." he rubbed his chin. "What should I break next?"

* * *

For a while, there had been constant traveling throughout space. The majority of the time, the room was filled up with complete silence. Kakarot hadn't been speaking as much since he left that healing chamber and simply sat down, not even training for the most part.

Both Dedana and Vino watched as he slept, his forehead facing the ceiling of the ship.

"What do you take from all of this?" Vino asked, breaking the silence in the room.

"What do you mean?" Dedana asked, looking back over to her companion. While observing Vino, she noticed that he had a stare that would simply not leave their leader. "Do you mean Kakarot?"

"No," Vino said. "Not from Kakarot, but from what he's got going on." He shook his head. "I just don't get it, Dedana. The wine trade was a brilliant idea, but all of a sudden he wants to go out and rid of Freeza's men just so he can take over all of his property."

"But that's a good thing isn't it?" Dedana asked. "I mean, it's the best I think. We won't have to share all the resources left for us with hundreds of others and it can last us for years! Also, taking out people that aren't truly loyal to Kakarot is the safest bet."

"You make good points, but you should have heard how he was talking to me before." Vino crossed his arms. The entire time as he talked, his gaze had not left Kakarot, even though the man was just sleeping peacefully (or so it seemed). "He was speaking as if the world was his for the taking. He said we had enough power to do as we please and nobody would be capable of stopping us."

"Well...he's kind of right."

"But think about it, Dedana. What happens after we do away with all of Freeza's men? What is Kakarot going to be up to once the fighting with all them is done? People, in general, are truly never satisfied and him being who he is, I don't think he will ever be content with what he has. He just might go on to plunder innocent worlds as Freeza's own men once did. Don't you get it?"

"You should know Kakarot better than that," Dedana said, her tone showing that she was quite upset with Vino at the moment.

"Yes, Dedana. Look, I'm sorry, but Kakarot isn't himself right now." He turned around, leaving her to herself as he headed out the main room. "I just hope you realize that."

Dedana remained there, quite unsure. No matter what, she was meant to be by Kakarot's side. It didn't matter his intentions or anything of the like. She was bound by him as a follower and servant and that was what it was going to be. The opinion of others wasn't going to change that fact.

* * *

"Wakey wakey..."

Kakarot opened his eyes. The Saiyan rubbed his eyes as he let out a deep yawn. "We've arrived?"

"Oh, no, Kakarot. It's not them. It's us..."

"Hm?" He rubbed his eyes a bit harder and opened them to where he would be able to check his surroundings. Last time he checked he was in the ship, on his way to one of Freeza's planets to take out more of his men. Here, he wasn't. He was in the same place he visioned himself being in while he was enduring his heart virus.

He was in the void.

The Saiyan had a slight frown, one that showed a bit of disappointment. "I thought I was done with this place."

"No, not yet," the menacing voice echoed. "We've sensed that you've been having some doubts recently."

"Doubts?" The Saiyan scoffed. "About?"

"About taking this path, Kakarot. We can tell that you feel a bit of regret for talking to your family the way you did and explaining how you were going to go about things from now on. We just came to put you in check."

"In check? I'm doing whatever the hell I want. That is what you advised me, so I'm abiding by my desires."

"Abide by your desires you are doing, yes. But those unnecessary feelings are still there, young one. You felt bad because they weren't content with you deciding to do as you please?"

"Yes," Kakarot answered truthfully. "That boy is my son and that woman is a person I care for dearly. I would have reason to feel some type of remorse for it."

"AHaha! What nonsense! Do you love those people?"

"Yes."

"Do they love you?"

"Yes."

"WRONG ANSWER: If they did indeed love you, then they would have been okay with you doing whatever you wished. They truly shouldn't have been upset or angry for your actions, Kakarot. Besides, didn't you say you'd visit in 9 months when the child is born?"

"Yes," Kakarot responded.

"Then they should be all the happier. Go out and kill all these Freeza men. You truly have no idea how much this benefits not only you but us as well. With all the goals you have in mind for now, we can go very far. Just keep that in mind."

"Sure..."

"Good. And stop feeling sorry for those weaklings. Do what you must."

The Saiyan's eyes shot open. He shook his head quickly before rubbing his eyes. He checked his surroundings to make sure that he was very well in reality. Once he realized he was on the ship that he was traveling inside with Dedana and Vino, the Saiyan let out a sigh of relief. He sensed both his companions on the other side of the ship so he'd have some alone time for the very least.

"YO!" Saru came on the side of Kakarot, his cheek directly against his. "Did ya miss me?"

Kakarot let out a long, deep, dragging, exasperated sigh.

* * *

"Our time is almost up, sis."

"Yeah, I know..."

Lazuli and Lapis were both seated on their behinds, taking a rest break for the remainder of the time they had until they were to leave the Room of Spirit and Time. The blonde could be seen shaking a little bit. She didn't think her brother notice, but Lapis very well did. He knew it wasn't out of fear of death, but a bit more of anxiousness and anticipation; anxiousness and anticipation for the vengeance of her beloved fiancee.

"Cheer up," Lapis said, "Once we're outta here, we're going to kill that bastard and be done with it all. Krillin will come back eventually and everything will be back to normal." He stood up on his two feet. He looked down at his sister with a reassured smile on his face. "Ya trust me?"

Lazuli let out a faint smile, even though she felt that she wasn't supposed to be in such dire moments. "Yes, Lapis." Her hands clutched onto his. "You're my brother."

"This is indeed bad for Piccolo..." Kami said, observing everything going on below.

Tien and Yamcha were looking at the Guardian of Earth closely. They weren't able to see what was going on down below, but they could sense the Namekian's ki. It was bad-really bad. The worst part about this was that if Piccolo were to die, then Kami would go as well as they were both once linked together and still are as far as entity goes. Without Kami, they wouldn't be capable of utilizing the Dragon Balls for what they needed them for.

"He is going to die soon," Kami said.

"We have to do something," Yamcha said loudly. He didn't want the worst of the worst to happen. Not at moments like these. They just couldn't.

"We have to go save him then," Tien said. He began to jog his way off the look-out. The three-eyed martial artist began to gain momentum, though he was suddenly stopped. He looked on his right shoulder, which was being held back by a green arm. He looked down to see Kami had stretched out his elastic arms to prevent him from going any further.

"I'll go handle this," Kami said.

"B-But," Mr. Popo stepped forward. "Kami, what about you not leaving the look-out? Leaving me?" If Piccolo was to be dealt with in such a manner, then Mr. Popo could only imagine the kind of treatment would get. To even visualize such a thing brought Popo on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry." Kami retracted his arms. He looked at Mr. Popo and smiled. "We'll be back." The Guardian of Earth was now a young man again. When peril came on earth back then, he would surely interfere with such matters. The only exception was Piccolo Daimao, as a god was not given the power to destroy himself. With that rule in itself, Kami didn't have permission to interfere. And as an old man, he wasn't capable of doing much for the bigger threats. This was different now, though. Not only was he young and strong again, but he was to save his own life in the midst of it all. Without saying another word, the Guardian of Earth hopped a couple hundred feet into the air and took off.

"H-He's gone..." Yamcha mumbled, astonished.

"B-But..." Mr. Popo shook his head. "Lapis and Lazuli are supposed to be almost done with their training. They should be out at any time by now!"

"Dammit, we should have told him to wait!" Yamcha yelled.

"There was no helping it," Tien said. "Being the guardian of earth, he's been wanting to get into the spring of action. Now that he's found the perfect opportunity to do so, he's out now."

"Shit," Yamcha silently cursed under his breath.

* * *

Kami was soaring through the air like there was no tomorrow. Part of him was excited like this. The last time he truly got any action when it came to fighting was the time he spent on his home planet in Namek. But Earth was his true home and it'd be the first time in decades that he has truly gone off the look-out to guard it as his title entailed.

He made it into North City (what was used of it) in mere seconds. He saw from afar that 23 had his hands directed at Piccolo, who was not moving at all. The end for him was finally coming. Kami shot up the gear and rammed the tip of his foot into 23's cheek, sending him sliding through the dirt.

He looked down at Piccolo, seeing that his counterpart was lying down with bruises and tattered clothing. Drips of blood surrounded his body, parts of it being totally scorched. He didn't know why, but it pained him to see Piccolo like this. He bent over by the person who used to be a part of him and picked his head up.

"Piccolo! Piccolo...!"

Piccolo wasn't moving any part of his body and his ki was faint, though he was still very well alive. Kami was total proof of this in itself. "Hm..." He knew that it would be a while before Piccolo was to truly wake up. "I'm glad I came prepared." The Guardian reached into his gi from the collar and pulled out a senzu bean. "Here." He opened Piccolo's mouth and let it fall.

"I-I...I've got the rest," Piccolo said weakly. Although he wasn't capable of moving practically every part of his body, he was able to move his jaw so he'd be capable of chewing. The senzu inside could be heard being crunched up as Piccolo took bite after bite.

"You!" 23 said, growling. He threw a crushed car at Kami, who simply deflected it out of the way. "There are two of you fools..."

Piccolo got up from the ground, being fully healed by the senzu bean. He looked over at the person who saved him and was taken by surprise when he actually saw him. "Kami...?"

"Yes, it is I." Kami could feel the intense stare coming from Piccolo, perhaps it mostly having to do with the shock of seeing Kami so young again. "Let's just say I've had a few occurrences on Planet Namek."

"Heh." Piccolo cracked his neck. "Say no more." The Namekian got into a battle stance, prepared to fight. The chances of coming out alive were slim, but he didn't care. He was willing to fight on. "I take it the two are late?"

"No," Kami said. "I am." He tore off his cape and cast it to the side. He stood in a fighting stance very similar to Piccolo's, though with his own tweak. "Never thought I'd be fighting side by side with you, Piccolo."

"Likewise."

"There could be one thousand of you and you'd never be able to take me on!" 23 shouted. "Both of you die here!"

"Let's do it then!" Piccolo shouted, beginning to power up. A clear aura surrounded both Namekians as they tensed their bodies and increased their strength to the max.

"The both of them can be more trouble than wanted for..." 23 said to himself. "To hell with it!" He charged a ball of ki in the palm of his hand. "I've gotten both of you, so I need not waste my time. I'll just kill you where you stand!" He fired it away.

Kami bumped Piccolo to the side so he'd be out the of the attack. Kami did his best do dodge at the last second, but did so just barely. The attack continued until it hit a mountain from afar, blowing it up to pieces.

Kami looked over to Piccolo, who was just getting up on his two feet. "You okay?"

Piccolo looked Kami up and down. "From the way you look, I should be asking you that."

Kami chuckled through the pain, knowing that Piccolo was referring to a detached limb. "It's just a missing arm." He clenched his teeth, jaw, and tensed the muscles in his shoulders. "HYA!" A green slime came from the hole as he had regenerated a new arm. "They're disposable."

With no warning, Kami took off for 23.

"Heh!" Piccolo was a bit excited and followed behind, catching up to his counterpart with no time.

23 was near livid that what he had just attempted didn't happen to come to fruition. Both attacked full force with no mercy, at godlike speeds simultaneously.

23 wasn't having a hard time, but the two of them were making things more difficult for him in general. He blocked a punch from Piccolo and a kick from Kami and leaned back to miss a punch coming from the both of them. He kicked Piccolo in the face. Kami pressed his back against Piccolo's and span behind his counterpart, got low and leg swept 23.

Piccolo didn't let himself slow down from the strong kick and punched 23 in the face as he was falling down. Kami picked him up by the foot and threw him into the air. Piccolo was already one step ahead and happened to be a few good dozen feet in the sky. He predicted the trajection of 23 just right and was in time to ram both of his fists onto the cyborg's head, sending him back for Kami.

Said guardian prepared to attack 23 once more, but 23 countered by moving his head to the side and ramming his shoulder into the Namekian's throat. Piccolo quickly came from behind in an attempt to knock 23 away, but Piccolo was kicked to the side.

The cyborg hand sprung back onto his two feet and moved his head around a bit, stretching it out. "For two weaklings, you sure do make an okay pair. Unfortunately, enough your status for being weak will be your downfall."

Piccolo was on the right side of 23 as Kami was on his right. Both were on one knee, a bit winded from the strikes they had been rendered. They didn't stop for not a moment and rushed in on 23 again.

23 ducked under Kami's punch, which collided with Piccolo's face. Piccolo tried for a kick, though it only ended up hitting Kami's hip in the process. 23 raised himself up and elbowed the two in the gut, sending them back yet again. He opened his hands and aimed it for them both. "Good-Bye." He generated just enough energy to do away with them both.

Piccolo and Kami were highly alerted, though the attacks were coming towards them with too much speed. Neither would have a chance of dodging it and trying to defend against it would end up with almost certain death.

Just like that, the attacks aimed at them both were suddenly redirected towards the sky. Piccolo was sweating bullets, figuring this was the end, as well as Kami. The relief that came over them when the attacks were sent upward was like no other when they realized they'd have a chance.

Before Piccolo was Lazuli as before Kami was Lapis. Both were out of the chamber in new fresh clothes, gis of their former master Kami.

"You two came just in time," Kami remarked.

"Glad you could make it just in time," Piccolo said sarcastically, putting emphasis on the words 'just on'.

"You're welcome," Lapis said, replying mostly to Piccolo.

23 could be heard laughing, looking at them all. "And like moths to a flame, they all come for their deaths." For him this was great. More powerful fighters meant to be disposed of meant less to search for in the long run.

"You'll pay for what you did to Krillin!" Lazuli yelled.

"Tch! Don't worry, sweetie. You'll be with him soon."

Lapis came from the side and clocked 23 in the face while he wasn't looking. Lazuli was ready for him and punted him into the sky. 23 flipped over and recovered quickly, regaining his air. "HM! Stronger you may be, but weak you still are."

"Sis, I don't feel like toying with this clown. Let's end it right now."

Lazuli nodded, being in full agreement. "Right!"

Lapis smirked and powered up. "KAIO-KEN TIMES 10!" With the extra training in the Room of Spirit and Time, he managed to truly master the Kaio-Ken. While some of its side-effects remained, it was much more tolerable for him.

"Kaio-Ken!" Lazuli did the same but remained at the first level. She was just getting started when it came to using the technique that her brother taught her. Both rushed for 23, who wasn't ready for Lapis.

Lapis was rendering him a flurry of punches, all of which 23 truly had a hard time just managing to block. Lazuli came in aside her brother and did the same thing he was. "Shit...!" It was only a matter of time before his defense was to be broken through.

"They're that much stronger..." Piccolo said, mesmerized.

Kami grinned. He was proud to see two pupils of his own manage to become so much stronger and be apart of saving the world. "It was a long time coming, Piccolo."

Lazuli got 23 off guard and kneed him in the shinbone. This lowered 23's guard completely and allowed Lapis to punch him directly across the face. He then kneed him in the stomach, forcing him to double over prior to being sent crashing into the ground by Lazuli.

"You two can help out!" Lapis said as he and Lazuli neared towards the ground.

Piccolo and Kami both nodded, shooting up into the air. From above, they shot forth hundreds of ki blasts for 23. Said cyborg had just gotten back up and noticed them coming. He blocked his face, blocking them all at once. He felt some stings here and there, but most of them appeared to be missing.

Afterwhile, they finally stopped. 23 uncovered his face, looking for his opponents. In the air, he saw both Piccolo and Kami, with their arms still out. "What did you two fools think you'd accomplish with that?"

"Look behind you," Kami responded.

"What?" 23 turned his head. Surrounding him were multiple balls of ki simply floating in the air. "What's this?"

"Come together!" Piccolo wrapped his arms around his body as tightly as he could as Kami closed both of his fists. The ki attacks came at 23 at once. He blocked as fast as he could, taking them all at once.

A huge cloud of smoke was kicked up due to the attacks. He wasn't inflicted any type of damage, but he was getting irked. "You..." He looked through the smoke. "This again..." He swiped through it so he'd be able to see just fine.

"Missing someone!?"

"Huh?" 23 turned around, where his vision was blocked yet again.

Coming for him were two waves of ki that collided. It was just that he noticed at the last moment and didn't have time to do anything before he was completely consumed by it. Everything that 23 was made of was gone as well as his existence.

Lazuli waited until she knew he was a goner for sure before putting her hands down. Lapis did the same after.

"It's done," Piccolo said, descending down below.

"Right," Lapis said, "We don't have to worry about these freaks anymore."

"I wouldn't bet my life on that if I were any of you," Kami warned the others.

"Why?" Lazuli asked. "Are there more?"

"Possibly," Kami responded. "I just know if it wasn't over last time, I doubt it will be this time. Remember, one of them escaped. There has to be a source of where these androids are being made and we must cut the root before it's allowed to grow any longer."

"Shit, I forgot about that," Lapis said. "Hm! You're right."

"The thing is we're not able to sense their energy, so we'd never know when they attack."

"Then we have to wait," Kami said. "We don't wish everyone back yet. We must wait until things settle before they attack again. Is that okay?"

"As long as we kill these bastards, I'm fine," Lapis said.

"Good." Looking over the two, he smiled. "I hope you two finally see my point."

"Point in what?" Lazuli asked.

"That when fighting together, you are almost surely unstoppable. You make a good team and go well in synch when fighting side by side. Just remember this and use it as a strategy when possible."

"We'll keep that in mind," Lapis said. "Thank-you."

"I'll head over back to Kame House and give Roshi and the others the news," Lazuli said.

"I'll come with." Lapis shot into the air, flying by his sister's side.

Kami turned around and watched as the two left. "They are quite something, aren't they?" he asked, feeling the presence of Piccolo by him still.

Piccolo crossed his arms. "I can't disagree."

Kami looked over to his counterpart. "And you are as well, Piccolo. You stuck until the very end no matter what was to happen."

"Why didn't you let things run its course as you usually always do?" Piccolo questioned.

"Because our lives were at stake, Piccolo."

Piccolo squinted his eyes. He knew that there was more to this than what Kami was telling. "What else."

"For some reason, it pained me to see the state that you were in, Piccolo. I know we've had our differences in the past, but the way things are now, I feel different. It'd be a plausible excuse to say that our lives were at risk, which indeed they were, but part of me didn't like to see you go out the way you were so close to."

Piccolo grinned. "I know there's a bit more to it than that, old man. Spit it out."

Kami mirrored Piccolo's grin. "Because...I wanted to fight again. Though I belong to the Dragon Clan, fighting is something that is still apart of me. Coming out to protect the earth as I was meant to through fighting was exactly what called me."

"And the both of us almost dying was the perfect excuse for it," Piccolo ended.

Kami chuckled. "You know me too well." He then raised a finger. "And no more can you call me old man. By my guess, we're practically the same age now."

"Heh." Piccolo turned his back. "I'll be seeing you around." Piccolo shot through the air.

Kami just remained there. 'If I know Piccolo like I do, then he will most definitely be training until the next threat arrives. Perhaps I need to get onto the same thing myself...'

* * *

"Now, you've finally managed to catch my Bubbles, huh?" Kami came out from his house, sipping on a glass of tea.

Krillin had weights around his arms and legs. Going out to catch the monkey while running without any type of resistance would be all too easy for the earthling. So for it to be more challenging, King Kai placed 10 tons on Krillin.

The bald man was sweating drastically with Bubbles in his arm. Bubbles had a frown on his face, showing that he was disappointed that he had been caught. He was enjoying having Krillin in for a chase. King Kai noticed this and tossed Bubbles a banana.

The ape started to wiggle around once he caught the banana. Krillin casually dropped him and let Bubbles run off with his food that he was glad to have. He had totally forgotten about being captured by Krillin.

King Kai removed all the weight from Krillin with the snap of his fingers. Krillin fell over on his side, breathing heavily. "Huff...hufff...Finally. I feel so light now."

"Heh! Being in the otherworld, that energy will come right back in no time. Your real training starts now, Krillin."

"Really?" Krillin asked. His tone of voice relayed to King Kai that he wasn't all too sure about that.

King Kai smirked. "Yes. Really. I myself could teach you all the techniques I want by telling you and guiding you through it. But real learning comes from first-hand experience. This, in that case, would be fighting and I'm afraid that you're leagues ahead of me in strength."

"That's a bummer."

"Yes, BUT..." King Kai raised his finger. "I have just the perfect teacher for you."

"Really?" Krillin looked around. The only person he saw was Bubbles and he was chowing down on a banana. "It can't be him!"

"PFFT Of course not!" King Kai began to laugh. He turned around towards his house and yelled out. "Come on out! It's your time!"

Krillin paid close attention to the person that was to exit the house. He didn't know who was to come out, but he was expecting some big fit and strong guy to teach him. Once the person came floating outside the house, Krillin's jaw just about dropped.

 **"CHAOTZU!?"**


	61. Beginning of Final Moments

Out in the universe itself resided millions of galaxies and in those galaxies remained hundreds of thousands of planets, a vast majority with undeveloped lifeforms and very few with highly advanced civilized beings.

Earth was one of those highly advanced and civilized worlds, albeit it was still quite low technologically compared to other worlds. The blue round planet continued to orbit as normal. From the outside looking in, it appeared as if none of the grand atrocities that had transpired the past couple of days never even came to occur.

"We're almost there," Pilaf said, looking through the glass of the ship as he was being held by Soba's shoulder, "I can see it from here."

"Yeah, we'll be there in a couple hours," Bulma said, making sure to check the time they had remaining left.

They had all been traveling in the same ship for approximately a week, just about two taking account of the trip they had to take to bring Kakarot over to a better medical center away from their homeworld.

"So we're almost home?" Videl asked, a bit excited. It was hard for her to hide the anticipation as the little girl was truly getting somewhat homesick. She didn't get to explore as much as she had wanted to while on the other planet, being that she had to either remain close to her dad or one of the other adults.

"Just about," Bulma said. She went over to Chi-Chi, who was sitting idly in a corner, excluded from everyone else. Ox was acting very much the same, being in one of the other rooms, though he was alone for the time being. "How ya holding up?"

Since Chi-Chi had more time to think over things, she calmed down a bit more, though it didn't help the emotional pain go away. "I'm better," she responded, "Just want to go home and be able to sleep on my bed again." She let out a sigh. "That's all."

Bulma smiled. "Tell ya what, when we arrive, you take a little break for yourself and I'll take Ox off your hands for a little bit, ok?"

"No!" Chi-Chi immediately shouted, garnering the attention of everyone else in the room. She hunched down her shoulders and lowered her head. "Sorry..."

Bulma pressed her lips and nodded. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, no, it's okay. But right now, I'm going to need my little boy now more than ever, perhaps even more than him needing me. I can't allow being left alone right now. I'll need all the support I can get and Ox is all I have right now."

"I understand." Bulma put her hands on the woman's shoulders. "But please, don't forget that you have friends who will support you. Kakarot and I never got along the best, but that doesn't mean I can't have a relationship with you or your son even. Don't forget you have us to fall back on, too. Okay?"

Chi-Chi sniffled her nose, trying to keep from embarrassing herself let again with falling tears. "Thank you..."

"Anytime."

The whole time they spoke, Videl paid close attention to what they were saying. She was seated in the middle of the room, acting as if she was daydreaming, though she had been eavesdropping the entire time as everyone else spoke to one another. If Chi-Chi was doing so bad right now, then that surely meant Ox was in a far much worse state than she was. He was alone right now and more than likely needed to know that there were other people than his own family that'd be able to support him, too.

She got up and turned around to see her dad speaking with Bulma's father.

"You smoke?" Dr. Briefs asked, offering Mark a cig.

"Uh, no thank you, hehe." The man puffed his afro.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" Mark looked down to face his daughter. "Yeah, what is it, hun?"

"Is it okay if I go see Ox right now?"

That question took him by a bit of surprise. As far as he knew, Ox was in that room all alone by himself. Letting Videl go in there too would mean that they'd both be alone. They were both still very young and quite naive to the actions of older and more mature people, but Mark was quite protective of his daughter, especially since she was a little girl. The idea of her being alone with a boy didn't sound right with him. Hell, it was hard to try and ignore that she'd be training with him anyhow under Chi-Chi's supervision. He had to come up with an excuse, something that'd seem believable.

"Now, that wouldn't be a good idea, Videl."

"Why not?"

Mark cocked his head, narrowing his eyes. "Hun, don't you know what just happened? I'm sure the boy's heartbroken and would prefer to have his own space right now. He needs time alone."

And that's exactly what Videl knew what her friend did not need. Time alone would only perpetuate the silly idea that he truly would have to go through it all by himself, with just about zero support asides his mother at all. He had to know that she was there for him. "But, if he has someone to talk to, maybe he'd feel better..."

"Videl..." Mark said, trying his best to hide a growl. He hated saying no to his little girl, but at times it was very necessary for him to put his foot down.

"No, let her go right ahead." Chi-Chi grabbed at both of Videl's little shoulders, a little smile on her face. "Trust me, Ox needs it. He's not as outward as me, but I know it's hurting him, too. He needs to know that someone other than me will be there to patch him up when he falls."

Mark didn't think Chi-Chi would be too okay with such a thing either. "A-Are you sure?"

"Yes." The mother of Ox looked down at Videl, who was looking up at her wide-eyed. "You can go on in. Just tread carefully with him, okay? He's very emotional when pushed."

"Yes, ma'am." She turned around and hugged the woman's leg. "Thank-you."

Seeing Videl quite gratified for having permission to go and console Ox made it hard for Mark to not acknowledge. Whatever made his little girl happy also made him happy, even if it happened to be something he was somewhat against. He would never dare to try and go against anything positively fulfilling for her.

* * *

Everyone was in the middle room of the ship as Ox remained at the very bottom. The kid was sitting on one of the beds, looking down at the floor with a stare all void of emotion. With his eyes completely opened, he was just thinking of all the fun times he had with his dad. There were days, a lot of days where Kakarot would wake him up early so they could go out and train, then eat together. He remembered going on hunting trips, camping. Sometimes, he'd even be taken to his dad's businesses just to be shown everything that he was to own when he was to grow up.

He shook his head, letting the tears fly away from his eyes, which began to swell with the waterworks. He tried to fight it, but thinking of all the good times made this unexpected decision hurt worse. The way his father acted when he left the machine was as if he didn't even care. Ox just didn't manage to comprehend. Why?

\- 0 -

"Get up, son." Kakarot towered over Ox, who was grabbing at his scraped knee. The two had been secretly training for a while now and the kid was only 3 years old, on his way to soon turn four.

Ox was on his bottom with his eyes sealed shut, putting as much pressure on his knee as possible. He knew his dad didn't like crying and tried his best to not to do, but it hurt so bad and the bleeding wouldn't stop. He could begin to feel the hard burn when the wind touched his injured knee and that's when he tried to pressure it to stop.

Kakarot had an impatient look on his face. "Ox." He aimed his hand for the boy. "Get up right now, or there will be a worse pain than that."

Ox sniffed, his lips quivering. He knew that if he didn't get up, then there would be a worse punishment. His dad said that they were only going to train for him to get stronger, so why was he treating him like this? It didn't make sense to him.

* * *

" _Boy..." Kakarot growled. "Your enemy would have already killed you by now." He began to generate energy in the palm of his hand._

 _"Daddy, no." Ox lowered his head, hiding his face from his father. The kid was shaking, crying badly. He wasn't only hurt, but scared. He didn't like disappointing his dad, but he hated the pain. He felt like he was in a rock and a hard place._

 _Kakarot just froze. He didn't catch himself with his mouth agape until half a minute passed. Just watching his son look so scared and helpless strung at him for some reason. The ki in his hand disappeared and he lowered his hand. He looked around, trying to feel out for other energies nearby. They were quite a distance from home and nobody except animals remained in the area._

 _Looking back to his son, who still cried, Kakarot just about had enough. He dashed over to his little boy and quickly picked him up from the ground. Ox still cried, but Kakarot made sure to hold him tightly. "Don't worry son. Daddy won't hurt you." He began to bounce up and down. "I didn't mean to."_

 _"I-It's okay..." Ox sniffled._

 _"No," Kakarot harshly corrected, "No, it's not." His feet slowly left the ground as he began to take flight into the air. The warm love from his father calmed the boy down and he stopped crying. While in his arms, he could see that his dad had a look of minor regret in his eyes as if he felt bad for hurting him._

 _"I promise I won't cry next time," Ox softly said, wiping his eyes. "I promise."_

 _Kakarot smiled softly at the kid. "It won't get to that point again, Ox. I promise you."_

 _Ox closed his eyes and hugged his dad around his neck, eventually falling asleep as they fled back home._

 _Kakarot was still 22 at this time and was a novice to being a father still. Sometimes he got carried away, but it was up to him to know when to stop. He knew he wasn't human and didn't act like an earthling really, and was made different psychologically, albeit it wasn't an excuse for anything. For some reason, he had the parental instinct to protect his son and fell right into it. And for whatever reason, he felt proud of himself for it._

\- 0 -

So now, in the present, Ox remained on the bed, wondering how his father could go from that to what he was. It couldn't have been his father. For some reason, he inherently felt that a part of his dad wasn't there. Something about him seemed to go away. Still, it didn't make his anger go away.

He shut his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. He felt his body beginning to tense for a moment, a growing rage coming out of him. Some bubbly rage wanted to be let out and he felt now was the perfect time. His power began to rise. He could feel it going from its suppressed state to its very peak, trying its best to break even that barrier.

"Gr...!" The kid's eyes flashed white as his long, wild hair flew up. The room began to shake for just a split second.

"Ox?"

He stopped immediately. He was in his own world that he didn't even feel Videl's presence near him. The bed in the room stopped shaking as he snapped back to his senses immediately. "Videl...?"

"Are you okay?" Being able to sense Ox's energy from earlier signaled to Videl that he indeed must have been not just upset, though something beyond that. His power was beginning to go crazy. She was lucky to stop him the moment she said his name. After getting no response from him, she shook her head quickly. "Okay, I'm sorry to ask. I was just hoping that you'd be feeling better?"

"No," Ox solemnly said. He looked back to the floor. "I'm just...confused. I don't know what to think right now."

Videl wished she could empathize, but she could only show sympathy for him. "I don't know..." Videl trailed off. "What could I do to cheer you up?"

Ox scoffed lowly. Videl took the time out to come down here just to try and cheer him up, even probably knowing that there wouldn't probably be anything she could do to make him feel truly cheerful. However, her presence at the moment was appeasing and calmed him down.

"Just stay here." He looked at her. "I-If that's okay with you, of course."

Videl nodded and walked over onto the bed and sat on it with Ox, their arms touching one another. "If that'll make you feel better, I'll stay with you the rest of the trip."

"Thank you, Videl."

"Just know I won't be going anywhere as long as you need me. Okay?"

The boy smiled. "Okay."

* * *

Outthere was a very darkish world, surrounded by different colored stars, brightening the place up with multiple combined lights. There were hundreds of buildings in the area, one of a highly advanced structure.

"This place looks beautiful," Dedana remarked, observing the place. She was mesmerized by the varied vibrant, alluring look of this rich world. It was simply breathtaking.

"Indeed." Even Vino had to give credit where it was due. He himself appreciated the look of the planet. "I can see why that tyrant would want to take over a place such as this. He probably liked to bask in its radiant glory for downtime after exterminating an innocent herd of people." He shook his head.

"Way to turn something good into something negative," Dedana teased.

"I suppose I'm best at it." Vino turned around, looking into the ship. "What do you think?"

Kakarot exited the ship, ducking his head from under the top of the entrance. Once out, he took a few steps down the declined ramp of the ship. His black irises took in all the colors of the planet. He found the appearance of this world very appealing as well. "I have to admit, this place is pulchritude incarnate." He sniffed the air and let out a soothing sigh. "It smells of newly blossomed roses and a mix of peach fragrance."

"Snif sniff! Hey, it does!" Dedana exclaimed.

"I assume you like it?" Vino questioned.

Kakarot walked past the two, arms crossed. "Yes. Though it's a shame we'll have to replace this enticing aroma with the smell of death." He turned around to face the two. "One of you can come with me, though I'll need the other to stay and watch the ship. Surely they've been notified of an object's arrival and some will be sent to check it out."

"I'll come!" Dedana said, not even giving Vino the chance to try and leave with Kakarot.

"Guess that leaves me to stay and guard the ship?"

"Yep!" Dedana told him.

"Whoever comes to check out the premises that are not us, dies on sight," Kakarot ordered. With that said, the Saiyan shot off into the sky.

Dedana immediately followed suit. "Good luck!"

Time passed and the two soared through the skies, looking in over the planet. "Even the buildings look amazing. Do we really have to destroy it all?"

"Why does it matter?" Kakarot asked.

"Well...we'll be destroying it all and the place won't look as good as it did once before. It somewhat irks me, is all."

"Hn!"

"She has a point!" Saru said, surprisingly butting in the conversation. He was floating in a lotus position, going through the air just as fast as Kakarot was. "It'd be a shame to destroy all of this. It's a beauty. The way the buildings light up the place makes it all look so cool and extravagant. We can't just burn it all down."

"We have workers on our base," Kakarot responded to Saru. "All of the soldiers there were killed and everyone else are workers of some other trade. We can get some to come here and rebuild when it's all said and done."

"That does make sense," Dedana said. "Hm." She then smiled. "I never went on a purging mission..." she charged ki in her hands. "But I have a feeling this will be fun."

Kakarot nodded, giving her the initiative.

Dedana slung her ball of ki as fast and hard as she could at the biggest and brightest building she could see. A big flash came about, then followed the grand explosion.

Their purging had begun.

* * *

"And after the events of unknown extraterrestrials coming yet again with the sudden hospitalization of Kakarot as well as his and his family's disappearance, we don't know what to think of this!"

"And to add on the sudden recent attacks by unknown forces. A lot has been going on and we don't have anything to show for it."

"The only upside is that the threats seem to be gone now. If we get any updates on anything, we'll be sure to report it."

"Yes, and hopefully funding will come towards the destruction of cities. It may take a while to rebuild or it may just magically reappear like the countless lives of others. You never know."

The t.v. was cut off.

Muten Roshi picked up a hot cup of cocoa filled with countless little marshmallows and took a sip. He placed it back down on a wooden coffee coaster with his kanji ingrained in it. "Ahh...and just like that, everything seems to be back to normal."

Beside him was Lazuli, Oolong, Yamcha, Lazuli, and Puar. Turtle was on the floor in the living room, being rudely interrupted as he was actually taking an interest in watching the news.

"Problem is we don't know for how long," Tien said, exiting the bathroom of the house. Since everything seemed to blow over, for the time being, Tien decided to stick with the others. They all knew that the threat wasn't done yet as the source was still out there somewhere. He'd get back to his normal routine of farming until the threat was taken care of and until his friend was to be resurrected.

"And there remains the problem," Oolong said, sipping on the same drink Roshi had, though in a different cup. "We can't afford any more losses."

"All we need to do is wait until that son of a bitch comes out of hiding and we will finally be able to stick it to him," Yamcha said, pounding his fist.

"Don't get too excited," Lapis warned, "And don't underestimate either. You don't know if he has stronger weapons waiting to be taken care of or not."

"And that's another thing we can't afford," Lazuli added, "If he has androids or cyborgs even more powerful than the ones we've fought, then we're in trouble."

"Hn." Yamcha smirked and shook his head. "Guys, if we were all to fight Freeza right now with all our abilities, we'd wipe the floor with him, right? Those guys weren't even stronger than Freeza's full power."

"But Freeza only showed us 50% of his true power before you disposed of him with the Genki Dama," Tien corrected.

"Just use your head, guy," Yamcha said as he pointed at Tien's third eye. "Just imagine his power and double it. We'd be able to wipe the floor with that right now. Those guys wouldn't match up to Freeza, who was considered the strongest of all right?" He looked over at everyone and gave them a toothy smirk. "Nobody can stop us now."

WHACK!

Roshi smacked Yamcha atop the head with his cane.

"Oww! What was that for?"

"Remember what I told you," Roshi said. "It dundn't matter how good or strong ya get, there is always someone out there better than you. Don't let ya current power and recent feats get to ya head, my boy. Yer still young and have a lot ta' learn."

"Sheesh, you could have told me that without hitting me upside the head with that stupid cane."

WHACK!

"Hey!"

Everyone in the room chuckled.

"Respect the cane, young blood."

Tien looked outside the window from the inside in. "Guys, can you feel that?"

"I've already felt it," Lapis said, rising up from the chair. "Bulma and the others are all back."

"This is great," Turtle said. "With Kakarot and Ox here to help, we'll have a better chance to win this."

"As if Kakarot was ever gonna help us much," Yamcha said, shaking his head. "I can destroy him myself without even using the Kaio-Ken!"

"But...Kakarot's not on the ship," Tien said, The man was somewhat confused. "Kakarot did leave with them, did he not?"

"Yeah," Puar said. "He was the reason they all left in the first place."

Roshi rubbed his beard. "Somethin' musta went on while they were gone. I can feel it."

"Odd," Lazuli noted, "I can still feel his brat's power, though." She got up and was the first to begin to head out the door. "It's best we go by Capsule Corp where they're landing so we can get them all up to date."

"Agreed." Tien was the second one to leave, following everyone else except Puar, Oolong, Roshi, and Turtle.

"What do you suppose happened, master?" Turtle asked.

Roshi closed his eyes behind his dark tinted shades and took a sip of his warm cocoa. "If I had ta' guess, old pal...he didn't make it."

"Shame," Oolong said, drinking his cup of cocoa as well. "Darn shame..."

* * *

"Ah, it feels so good to finally be back!" Bulma ran outside the ship into the backyard of her home. She looked up at the bright sun, smiling wide. "Home sweet home."

Dr. Briefs lit a cig and took a puff. "Sweetie!"

"Oh, goodness, you're finally back!"

As everyone else exited the ship, Mrs. Briefs came running out hysterically, arms wide open. She hugged her daughter and husband tightly, nearly crying. "I'm so glad you're back, oh my god."

"Mom?" Bulma was a bit weirded out. Panchy never usually acted like this. Sure she missed them, but she would seem far more cheerful than this. "What's the matter?"

She wiped her eyes. "My goodness, you all should have been here! It was terrible!"

Pilaf and Soba looked around the area. He signalled Soba to keep an eye out as he hid behind some bushes. If something was to pop up, then they'd be the ones to be on top of it immediately.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked. "What happened?"

"The planet was attacked...AGAIN!"

"Really?" Dr. Briefs asked, "By who?"

"That's exactly what we're all here to explain!" Yamcha and all the others came landing down on the green grass in the back of Capsule Corp.

Ox came from the back of the group where he was with Chi-Chi and Videl into the front. "Who attacked?" the boy asked.

"It was more of those cyborgs," Tien said, being the first to answer. "All from the same Red Ribbon Army that had attacked a couple years back."

"Seriously?" Bulma asked, "You've got to be kidding."

"They've done a number," Tien said, closing his eyes. "They've got a couple cities and killed Chaotzu and Krillin. They were that strong."

"Krillin?" Bulma asked. She was struck and had no words. "Oh my god..."

"That's not the worse part," Lapis said, "We haven't yet to kill the source of the man who's been creating these cyborgs, so there is a chance that he can still make more. We just have to stay on our toes until he comes back."

"All this...while we were gone?" Ox asked, incredulously.

"For. One. Week?!" Bulma smacked her forehead. "Oh goodness. Poor Krillin and Chaotzu wouldn't probably be dead if it weren't for us not being here."

"Don't put the blame on yourselves," Lazuli said, "You lot had something to take care of. We, in fact, did a lot better than we thought we were gonna be able to. But regardless, we have to kill the cause of the cancer or it will simply get worse."

"I'm here to help," Ox spoke up. Two people he knew and fought alongside with were dead. The same group had killed his mother before and he wasn't going to let another big loss like this happen again. As long as he was here, he wasn't going to breathe and let another life be lost. "Whatever it takes."

"We're glad to have you on our side," Tien told Ox. "The more, the better." He looked over the group. "I've also noticed that you're one man short." He looked down at the son of the man he was referring to. He didn't need to ask for Ox to even understand.

"We didn't lose him," he said.

"Then where is he?" Yamcha asked.

Ox just looked down, ignoring the question. He didn't want to be rude, but he really didn't feel like answering that question. It brought up unwanted feelings.

"G-GUYS!" Pilaf shouted at the top of his lungs.

Bringing their attention to the blue imp as well as the dog, they saw that both were being held by some giant, taller than eight feet. Everyone simply looked up at him, even from the distance they were. Aside from the ginger-haired giant was a very familiar man.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I am Android 20, the creator of the others who have been killing you lot off. Good thing I managed to catch you all in one bunch so I can finally take you lot out at once without having to play hide and seek any more."

"So it's been you the entire time," Tien growled, stepping up to the plate.

"16..." Android 20 nodded. "Take care of them."

16 scanned over all the individuals with a calculating device implanted into what made him up. He used this to determine who all the people before him were, who to kill, and just how strong they were. His mission was locked on and his eyes glowed red for a slight moment. "Mission: kill Yamcha, Tien, Ox, Chaotzu, Kakarot, Krillin, and Piccolo." His voice was that of a robotic machine, an absolute drone. Mission only 71.4% completed. Chances of the mission being completed as of the current moment: 99.99%"

Everyone's eyes went wide.

Yamcha mumbled under his breath, nearly shitting his pants. "Oh fuck..."


	62. Explosive Ending

_Don't know why it said this story was complete when I updated the last chapter, lol. Truth be told, this story is probably JUST about halfway through. Regardless, enjoy this chapter_

* * *

"Oh, fuck..."

This golly green giant seemed to be absolutely certain that he'd be able to accomplish his mission. Tien looked over everyone besides him. "Everyone who is not fighting stay out of this right now!"

Bulma grabbed her mother and father with her, leaving the premises as quickly as she possibly could. Mark and Chi-Chi were both running toward the house.

"Videl!" Mark yelled. "Come inside!"

The young little girl ignored her father and stood with the others. "Are you really going to fight?" Lazuli asked.

"Yes," Videl said, nodding. Her heart was thumping, but she felt ready. Those soldiers of Freeza she fought before was a challenge for her, but she beat a good amount of them up. Now was time for the next challenge. She simply had no idea how powerful these guys were.

"Videl!" Mark yelled. The man tried to go back, but Chi-Chi threw him inside the house and closed the doors. Just a split second later, an invisible barrier shielded the entire house, protecting it from the disruption that was to follow.

Yamcha had a nervous grin on his face, trying to keep his confidence up. "He says chances of killing us all are 99.99%, huh?"

"Once we power up, those chances are going to plummet," Lazuli said surely.

"Let's do it then," Lapis said.

All of them raised their powers, shouting in unison. No time was to be wasted as the source of the threat was before them. With him gone, all of this would finally be over. Their combined powers shook the entire area, tipping the ship over to the ground even.

16 threw both Pilaf and Soba in the middle of the road, having them being nearly being hitten by cars on various occasions as they tried to scramble with their bodies intact. He calculated over their powers all once more. "Chances of mission completed: 99.97%"

"Oh what the hell!" Yamcha shouted. The man raised his voice as high as he could, powering up to the max. "Kaio-Ken Times 20!" He blasted off for 20, smirking still. "Let's test how messed up that calculator brain of yours is, tin can!"

POW!

16's detached hand smashed into the mid-section of Yamcha's. The scarred martial artist's voice was extremely low pitched as he let out a groaned pain. His Kaio-Ken disappeared in a split second prior to him landing on his back, clutching his stomach. The man rolled over, gagging.

"Holy shit," Lapis mumbled.

"KAGH!" Yamcha spat out blood. "S-Shit..."

16's hand came back to his arm, its clicking as a sign of it being put back. "Good job, 16. Now do away with that pest."

"Yes." 16's eyes began to glow red. He didn't let them charge and just fired away.

Something had swooped in and grabbed Yamcha, propelling the man into the sky just in time. The lasers burned the ground, turning a part of the green grass totally black and crispy. Up above Piccolo had Yamcha in his arms. The Namekian used his elastic abilities to bring Yamcha to safety all the while not putting himself in danger at once. He descended down below and tossed Yamcha over to the side, letting him recover.

"Sorry for the wait."

"Mr. Piccolo!" Videl yelled.

"Piccolo." 16 calculated the Namekian's power. "You're stronger than the data I had been given."

Piccolo removed his turban and cloak. He looked behind him towards the others. "If any of you want to have a chance of winning this without losing, we have no other option but to team up. RAH!" He let out all his power. "On three, we attack at once."

"Chances of mission being completed: 99.00%"

Android 20 chuckled in the back. "Sure, 16. Entertain them. Let them come at you full power and show them how pointless their efforts are."

Lazuli, Lapis, and Tien all pushed themselves into Kaio-Ken, getting ready.

"ONE!" Piccolo shouted. Everyone in the group got their feet ready. He was nervous, but there was no backing down from here. Everyone was a bit anxious, but most of all, Videl surely was. She was the weakest of the bunch and innately saw herself more as a liability. Regardless, she had to prove herself. She had to fight by Ox.

"NOW!" Piccolo skipped three and headed for him immediately.

"Hm?" This took 16 by surprise as he expected them to come on three. Before he knew it, he had six people fighting him from all different angles. Piccolo managed to get a punch in, but that did absolutely nothing. Subsequent to that lucky strike, he was blocking all their punches and kicks left to right.

"Pick up the pace!" Piccolo barked.

"RAHHHHH!"

Pushing themselves to their very limit, everyone tried to fight much faster with much more ferocity, but that didn't even work. 16 immediately stopped and let them all strike him at once. Piccolo punched him in the face, dead center. Lazuli kneed him on the right side of his obliques as Lapis kicked him in his left hip. Tien elbowed him in the chest, Ox attacking him in the pelvic area and Videl simply kicking him in the shin.

16 stood there, with all them in their poses. Not one ounce of damage seemed to be put onto him. Piccolo and everyone else stumbled back, wincing in pain. The attacks that actually landed hurt them more than their own opponent.

Piccolo got decked hard into the face. Lazuli received a knee to the oblique as Lapis was kicked away in the hip. Tien was punched in the chest and Ox got an uppercut to the chin. Videl was grabbed by her hair and thrown over with the others.

Every one of them groaned in pain from that one strike. Yamcha slowly got up, seeing how everyone was having a hard time doing so as well. "Guys...I have a plan."

"Not again..." Tien said.

"This is going to have to work." He coughed a bit more. "I already know we have no other chance in hell. There is no point in to continue this type of battle if we're just going to get handled easily."

"The Genki Dama?" Ox asked. "The same thing you used to beat Freeza?"

Yamcha nodded. "Yes." He shot up into the sky. "Everybody, take him on and give me time, please."

Android 20 looked into the sky, seeing Yamcha was preparing something. He grinned. 'Fool. As if I'd let you play out with your own plan.' His eyes glowed red, firing off lasers.

Yamcha quickly dodged out of the way, though just barely, with his arms up still. "I'll need somebody to take care of the old guy or I'm gonna be the next one to die!"

"Everyone...continue to fight him." Tien looked over to 20. "I'll do away with this clown before he can crawl back into his little hole."

"16, take care of Tien first! Do it now!"

"As you wish." 16 flew past everyone else, headed directly for Tien first. Nobody could even catch him with their eyes since he moved so fast.

Tien was ready as soon as 20 gave the order. The triclop's body fizzled out for a bit prior to separating into three different people. 16 rammed into one of the clones, having struck the wrong person.

The real Tien powered up. "Kaio-Ken X 10!" In a split second, he zoomed in on 20 and kneed him in the face. He pounced into the sky and clapped both of his hands together, with his index fingers touching upward. "DIE!"

20 put his hand forward, smiling. "Fool. I'm one of the energy draining androids! You can't win this one!"

"TIMES TWO!" Tien shouted. The size of his triangular attack grew.

20 knew he wouldn't be able to suck in so much energy at once and removed his hand. He began to jump over to the side but was caught up in the impact of the attack. Bit by bit, every component his past self-made himself to be was blown to pieces. 20 was no more.

"He killed him!" Lazuli shouted.

"Heh! That's what he gets..."

"Watch out!" Ox warned from below.

16 came up from behind Tien and gave him a ferocious bear hug. He squeezed Tien tightly. "Last order from Android 20 was to kill you first." He squeezed even tighter. "You must be the first to perish."

"G-Gragh!" Tien screamed at the top of his lungs. His bones were cracking all by the second from the intense pressure.

Ox rocketed into the air, making an attempt to save Tien. 16 looked over to Ox and fired a laser at him from his eyes. The kid was burned right through the shoulder, which caused him to stop in flight.

"No, he doesn't!"

Lazuli and Lapis swiftly flew past Ox and both fired an attack for 16 at once. Said android let go and flew out of the way, seeing it'd be best for Tien to die by the hands of his own comrades. As he backed up, he just watched and waited, just to be sure that Tien would be the first to die.

Much to his surprise, the attacks of the twins re-directed to 16. He swatted away both the attacks and was struck by them both in the face as soon as he deflected them. The impacts of the punch didn't have any type of effect and he remained still. He grabbed them by their wrists and forced them to bump heads together.

Their eyes seemed to be rolling around due to the great impact as they had been struck together. 16 reeled Lazuli in and booted her in the gut. He pulled Lapis in and clocked him in the face, knocking a few teeth out. He grabbed the man by his long black hair and rammed him into his sister. He aimed his fist for them both and let it rocket away from him, smashing into the back of Lapis.

The twins were sent crashing hard into the ground below. 16's arm came back and reattached itself. He looked over to where Tien was, but nobody happened to be there.

"Hey!" Tien shouted from across. 16 turned around. There he saw his opponent beckoning him to attack. "Come at me."

"I will happily oblige." 16 began to fly towards Tien.

Just from below Ox and Videl both kicked 16 in the chest, using the element of surprise on their side. He budged a bit, though most importantly, their unexpected attacks put his momentum to an absolute halt.

"Dodonpa!"

16 raised his arms and blocked the attack at once, creating up a big amount of smoke. He swiped it all away. He looked at Ox and Videl. His eyes went from her to him, then back to her. "Little girl. In no way shape or form is it in my mission for me to dispose of you. If you don't wish to be exterminated, leave the area right now."

Videl shook her head. "I won't be going anywhere."

"Then you will die," 16 said casually.

"HEY, metal brain!" Yamcha shouted from above, catching 16's attention. The man had a medium sized ball of blue ki in the sky. "EAT THIS! GENKI DAMA GO!"

16, for the first time during the entire fight, formed ki in his hands, preparing to counterattack against Yamcha. He watched as the Genki Dama gradually neared him, letting it get closer and closer. Once it was just yards from him, he fired his own attack right against it. The Genki Dama flashed a bright white light, blinding all individuals in the area prior to letting out a gigantic explosion, shocking the entire West City.

"T-The shield!" Bulma clicked a button attached to the walls of her house. Just from inside they had been watching the whole thing. They couldn't believe such power was capable of being generated by simple humans and machines. "I-It's beginning to break through!"

Mark had his face plastered up against the glass wall, just watching. He was in here while his daughter was out there, in total danger, in middle of a fatal battle. To him, this felt pathetic. "Please be safe, little girl."

"It's beginning to calm down," Dr. Briefs observed. "The shield should protect us still."

Bulma wiped a sweat drop from her forehead. "If that blast would have broken through, we'd be dead by now."

Dr. Briefs nodded. "I know."

Once everything was clearly visible once more, 16 remained in the sky. The only thing that seemed to be damaged was his green armor. All of it was broken into pieces, leaving him in simple black spandex.

"H-He blew it up!" Yamcha said, a croak in his throat. "U-Unbelievable..."

"Your time is finally up," 16 said, "Everyone dies here."

"Nobody will be dying anytime soon!" Mark was in the middle of the battlefield, his arms out wide. "If you're going to harm my little girl or anyone else here, you're going to have to go through me!"

"Then so be it." He fired off a small blast of ki for him, showing no signs of hesitation for killing those who partook in interrupting with his mission.

"Daddy no!" Videl was alerted and jumped off her backfoot, flying for Mark as fast as possible. She tackled her father to the ground, but they were both still very well left all out in the perimeter of the attack. She turned her head around, seeing that the blast was still coming for them. The little girl let out a gasp.

BOOM!

Seeing the explosion take place, Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Panchy all covered their mouths in astonishment.

Everyone else in the war zone had frozen as well. Ox just looked in that particular area. The huge dust of smoke from that attacked covered everything and left him unable to see absolutely nothing. The kid felt like his heart sunk. Videl, his friend. He knew how strong she was, but she wouldn't have been able to survive such a thing. The kid clenched his fists.

"They weren't even apart of this," 16 said to himself.

Ox's head jerked over to 16. "Then why...?"

16 slowly looked back over to the kid, barely hearing him speak. "Excuse me?"

"Then why?!" Ox asked, this time even louder. The kid's vision started to get blinded by the constant tears that swell up in his eyes.

"Why what?"

"WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE!?" He yelled. He didn't get it. They weren't on his list, so they didn't have to go. He and the others were all meant to go, but not Mark, not Videl...especially not Videl.

"O-Ox!" Tien yelled. "Calm down!"

Ox didn't want to hear any of it. The boy was getting angrier and angrier. His ears were tuned out to all voices except that of the robot's. He wanted his reasoning and nothing more. He stood there, shaking, but waiting, trying his best to be patient.

"Because they got in the way," 16 said. "My mission has been to kill you, your father and all those who he has either fought against or alongside with. All those people are here right now and so you all must die. They got in the way of my mission, so they had to go. It's just a means to an end, nothing more."

Ox's lip twitched. "A-A means to an...an end?" The boy's eyes widen, now looking at the ground. Taking an innocent life was a means to an end. Was that how all the villains saw it? Was wasting a person's life, just forgetting and tarnishing their own experiences, taking it away from them, a means to an end? Was that how Freeza saw it? Was that how this android saw it?

"But for the loss of their lives, all I see...is misfortune."

And those words struck a chord. Ox looked at the android and observed him. The way he said that something about it felt familiar.

\- 0 -

 _Much time had passed, and yet nobody else has entered the near remote area Ox lived. The dazzling stars were beginning to show themselves and Ox remained in the same spot, next to his mother's body. During the time he let the most of his tears out, now sniffing his snotty nose. Even while being a strong little boy, his mental state as a four-year-old wasn't enough to take this on._

 _"A misfortune, I see..." a voice said from behind._

 _Ox remained still, not turning around. He could hear the man speaking behind him, but he paid him no mind. He stood in his comfort zone, directly next to his dead mother. "Turn around when I speak to you...Son of Kakarot." Ox's tail twitched at the mentioning of his father's name. Slowly he began to turn around. The man behind him grinned. "Good...face me."_

 _Ox had his eyes directed towards the ground as he turned around, not wanting to show his face full of tears, with nearly complete red eyes. From below he noticed the man standing before him was wearing black boots. The higher he looked up, the more he took in descriptions. His long legs fit in black jeans, going further up and seeing a big tall, muscular man with a green jacket. He had orange hair, his hairstyle nearly taking the appearance of a mohawk._

 _The man had a warm smile, one of a person who seemed that he would truly help those in need._

 _The man saw Ox's red face. "Lost someone dearly, huh?" Ox remained quiet, but he nodded in response. The man sighed. "Don't worry." He slowly reached for the side of his waist, pulling out a gun from a holster. "You're going to rejoice soon, I promise kid." Ox looked back down, listening to the words he was being told. "I won't try to give you as many bullet holes as your friend has here, but I need to have some fun, right?"_

 _Ox recalled those moments...of his mother getting shot at. To stare helplessly as your mother is to be brutally murdered began to anger the little boy. The man pointing the gun at Ox's head didn't even notice the heavy breathing coming from the four-year-old. "You two can cry together in heaven."_

 _BANG!_

 _The bullet came directly at Ox, who simply stared at it. For him, it felt like the bullet was nearing him at slow motion. The kid had a lot of time to react and all he could think about was the sound being made immediately after this man happened to pull the trigger. Just hearing another one of those gunshots...just triggered the kid. Ox rammed into his enemy and rammed his small shoulders directly against the man's chest, breaking something as a crack could be heard._

 _Ox landed on his feet, his nose flaring. The man who just tried to kill him earlier was lying on his stomach, clutching his chest dearly. He stared at the kid, fear beginning. Ox was growling, his tail lashing side to side furiously. He took a glance at the man's shoulder and noticed an RR symbol. Just like the others who attacked them, they had the same insignia as well. At this very moment, he realized who his targets were._

 _"I..." Ox shivered, just trying to speak. So much rage bubbled up inside the only way he could release it all out was by screaming. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" A great bright red aura surrounded him._

\- 0 -

And it finally clicked. This android used to be a man. He worked for the Red Ribbon Army. And he was the one to show to Ox when he was mourning over the death of his mother. This made the kid even angrier.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Ox roared.

A giant gust of wind surrounded the kid and blew everyone away. "RAHHHHHHHHH!"

16 continued to calculate the boy's power, seeing that it was increasing substantially at an insanely quick rate. The boy's eyes continued to flash from black to teal. His long hair stuck up, constantly changing from black to gold, as well as his Saiyan tail.

"GRAGHHH!" The kid crouched down, trying to push himself.

"T-This power," Yamcha stared, in complete awe. "It's going through the roof and it won't stop!"

"It doesn't matter how strong you get, you will never be strong enough to prevent the inevitable deaths of all those you fight with and for."

Ox's entire body jerked up. That was the breaking point. The kid's hair turned into gold as his irises converted blue. "GRAGH!"

"T-The shield!" Bulma shrieked.

"It's shattered!" Dr. Briefs exclaimed.

The strong winds continued from Ox's body as he remained there, looking like a totally changed person. His body shook in rage. The kid had a hard time controlling his emotions in general. This moment was the hardest one of all.

"O-Ox..." Piccolo stuttered. He was at a complete loss for words for this sudden jump in power. It was unlike something he had ever seen before.

Ox raised his hands to his forehead. A bright yellow ki began to charge in the palm of his hand. "MAAAAAAAA..."

16 shook his head and set his feet. "I will not fail in my mission!"

"SENNNNNNNNNN..." the kid's blast grew in three sizes. There was an extraordinary amount of ki expected to be released.

"Everyone duck now!" Lapis yelled.

16 shot for Ox, going as fast as he possibly could. 'Chances of completing mission: 50%.' Regardless of if he'd be able to complete it or not, there was still a chance. And being the determined machine he was, he wasn't going to not try and see if he could win it or not.

Seeing 16 had gotten closer in on him, Ox knew it was time to finally unleash all the power he had built up to this very point of the battle. "KOOOOOOOOO!"

The roar of ki fired from his hands and right against 16, who rammed himself into the fiery prowess of it. He clashed against it and tried his best to use the extreme momentum gathered in order to break through and end Ox's life.

Ox, on the other hand, wasn't going to lose his ground. He would push 16, but 16 would push back. They were at a complete stalemate.

"Come on!" Piccolo yelled. "End it, OX!"

"GR!"

"Your lives end here!" 16 yelled.

Ox planted his feet into the ground and pushed back some more. 16 wasn't letting up, being just as stubborn as even he. "Come on, Ox..." Yamcha mumbled.

"You can do this," Lapis egged on. "Finish it, kid!"

"He needs our help!" Lazuli yelled.

"NO!" Ox barked. The kid grinded his teeth together. "I'm going to finish this! RAH!" He put forth more ki into his attack.

16 pushed back even more. When one had the edge over the other, either it would go back to equal or a temporary advantage for the other.

Lazuli had stopped in her tracks. "Y-You've got to be kidding..."

"He's not," Tien said. "This is most likely his Saiyan side. Kakarot has the pride of a warrior and now Ox has finally grasped that concept. He needs to know that he's strong enough to take down this threat. In order for him to feel accomplished once he succeeds, he needs to do this alone!"

"As stupid as it is, I understand," Piccolo said.

"COME ON OX!" Tien yelled. "YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Ox continued to push on. "I w-won't failll...!"

The boy could feel it slipping any moment now. As much as he was determined, he was no android. He did indeed have stamina. "DARN IT!"

"OX!"

"Ah?"

"Yo, it's Krillin!"

"R-Really?"

"Listen, Ox. The fate of the world is resting on your shoulders right now! If you want to end it all, then you have to beat this guy. Don't give in, man. Videl is the reason you're this strong, so let her be the reason that you win this for us!"

"Y-You're right. I can't let her death be in vain!"

(CUE Unmei no Hi)

"She's not even dead, Ox."

"WHAT!?"

"One of Tien's clones jumped in at the last moment and used his body to protect them both at the last second. She's knocked out right now, with her dad, but she isn't dead."

"She's alive..."

"BUT SHE WILL DIE IF YOU DON'T WIN THIS FOR US! DO IT OX! I HAVE KIDS TO LIVE FOR GOD DAMMIT!"

"Krillin is right!" Ox used all the remaining force he had, the boy sucked in a big amount of oxygen. Something else inside him he could feel was waiting to be left out. The kid opened his mouth, letting out a ferocious roar.

This loud resonating roar would pierce the ears of those who weren't capable of withstanding such a powerful yell.

"W-Was than an ape?" Tien asked, bewildered.

Piccolo's eyes went wide. Just like Kakarot. He could see the wild beast beyond the power. Kakarot used this as a last-ditch effort against him in their battle years ago. The second time was exactly like this.

The wild roar of the untamed beast that resided inside the young boy was finally out. He used this as his extra push.

16 could feel himself quickly becoming overwhelmed by the second. "N-No...I have to succeed in my mission." His momentum was all gone now. Ox's attack consumed him. The moment it did, the boy let out a small amount of ki into the giant wave he had formed.

Inside, the miniature ball of ki exploded, causing his Masenko attack to detonate prematurely. Like the Genki Dama, another bright flashing light consumed the entire battlefield.

KABOOSH!

The impact of the attack sent Ox sliding through the grass in tattered clothes. Everyone else immediately fell over, not being able to withstand the pressure of such an explosion.

Moments passed and the skies had finally cleared.

"I-Is he gone?" Yamcha asked as he came down. Yamcha had to rocket his way into the clouds to not get caught up in all the power that resonated from below. Everyone had just been getting up the moment he touched back down on land.

Lapis looked around for a bit. His head kept moving until his eyes finally saw some piece of evidence. He walked past Yamcha for a few yards prior to coming to a stop. He crouched down and picked up a piece of spandex and some components of machinery. He raised it up high so everyone could see. "He's gone." He turned around to face them all. "The Red Ribbon Army is finito."

Ox smiled. He had a hard time lifting his head up while he was on his back. He looked over to see Videl. "M-Make sure, Videl's okay." The kid's head touched the ground as he went out of consciousness.

Chi-Chi broke through from inside, running for her child. "My baby!" She slid in the grass on her knees and scoped Ox up in her arms. She buried her face into his chest. "Please be okay."

"He is," Piccolo said. "He just pushed himself to the very brink. He just needs some rest."

Tien had both Mark and Videl over his shoulders. "And these two are okay as well. I knew my extra clone would come in handy somehow."

"So it's settled," Lazuli said. "We can wait a few months and wish for everything to be back to normal."

"I most certainly hope so," Yamcha said. The man suddenly almost fell over flat on his face due to a sudden force from behind that caught him off guard. "Ah?!"

Bulma was hugging him tightly from behind. "I'm so glad you're okay. I thought all of you were going to die, Oh my god...!" She rubbed her face against his neck.

Yamcha smiled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Nah, all's good over here."

She began to chuckle a bit. All of this disaster and they genuinely made it out alive. Yamcha chuckled a bit as well, getting Lazuli to snicker a bit.

"hehe.." Lapis laughed with a proud smirk on his face. Sure, he wasn't the one to do away with the threat, but he assisted in getting the job done.

Everyone began to laugh out of relief.

Finally, life would be able to go back to normal. Lives would come back and so would destroyed cities. The worst threat on earth was gone, but so were others of the past.

The only question now was: what would be the next threat?

Stay tuned.


	63. Wedding

Just less than half a year had passed since the incident and there finally seemed as if there would be some peace. As per usual, Ox stayed up a great majority of the previous night studying for his schooling and what not, though he obligated himself into waking up much earlier than usual, as there was something especially planned this very day.

 **BURRR BURR BURRR**

The kid's hands shot from under the covers as he tapped the alarm, shutting it off immediately. He pulled the covers from over him and shot up. He was a bit tired, though he **JUST** managed to get the healthiest amount of sleep. He stretched with a loud yawn and checked the clock on the dresser in his room. "9:30. Great." The now 7-year-old boy hopped from his bed in his blue and orange onesie pajama and headed right to the door.

Straight into the bathroom across the hall, he went. Ox noticed that for the first time in his life that his head was finally above the sink of the bathroom. He managed to only see the very bottom of the mirror, but he was proud of it. He was actually growing. Going on with his morning, Ox used the restroom, brushed his teeth, and headed back to his room to change.

He put on a purple color shirt and jeans for today. He put on basic purple sneakers and headed out the door.

Down below, Chi-Chi was washing up a couple dishes. She knew what this day was and made sure to get herself up much earlier than usual just knowing that her son would get up earlier than normal. Over these past 5 months, her belly really had grown in size and it became quite noticeable that she was pregnant, though that was only if a person was paying attention. Chi-Chi was still only in her second trimester and it wasn't all too big. She usually wore looser clothing to hide it, but for those that scrutinized even for just a little while, would be able to tell something's up.

She heard her son's footsteps quickly paddling down the steps of the house and knew what was up. She dried up the remaining dishes and dried her hands as well. Once finished, she turned around and placed her hands on the edge of the sink, just waiting.

A split second later, Ox pounced right down to the last step and finally onto the floor of the first story of their house. He was already all dressed up. "I'm ready!"

Chi-Chi knew her son would be ready as soon as he got down and she was prepared for it. Prior to washing the dishes earlier, she made sure to take a shower and get dressed. She was in an all blue kimono, which covered all her legs until it reached her ankles. Though it was rare Chi-Chi let her hair down, she decided to do so for this special occasion. "Okay, let me get some food." She went into the kitchen and got inside the fridge. She grabbed out bowls of food wrapped around in foil, all of which she made last night for today. "We can warm it up when we get there."

"Okay." Ox opened up the door and headed out for the car parked in their yard. Once he came out to see there was absolutely nobody out, he let out a refreshing sigh.

Chi-Chi poked her head out. "We clear?"

"Yeah, they're not here."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Good." Chi-Chi bent over and handed Ox the food so she could go unlock the car. "I'm about tired of those new reporters and paparazzi. If it gets any worse, I might have to beat them up myself."

"Hm. You read my mind."

Every now and then there would be crowds of aggravating people consisted of various media outlets trying to find the whereabouts of Kakarot still. They had to move out into a different area a couple times just so they wouldn't have to be bothered as it was already a bit too overbearing. though it made sense why people would want an update on the man. Last time everyone knew, Kakarot was having issues with his heart and suddenly disappeared. His family was finally back and they simply ignored them and their questions. Some chalked it up to Kakarot genuinely passing away, others thought of it as the man just hiding out somewhere. Many theories were spread, though none were correct.

"Okay. Food's all set." Ox put them all in the back seat and shut the door before getting into the driver's seat himself. He waited until his mother got into the passenger seat of the car. "Why can't we just fly?"

"We don't want attention, Ox. Besides, you're going to need to learn to drive anyway when you have your own family." She grabbed her seat belt. "Now buckle up."

"Okay, mom." Ox rolled his eyes. He was okay with some things, but it was far easier to just fly. It was a lot faster and saved gas. He didn't get why Chi-Chi wanted to make their family seem as normal as possible when her own son is the spawn of an alien from another world, something that the common population still knew nothing of.

Ox adjusted the driver's seat so he'd be able to see above the dashboard of the car and declined it so his feet would reach the pedals below prior to adjusting the steering wheel as well. He then started the engine of the car, which slowly began to hover off the ground. He pressed his foot against the pedal and they both shot off into the air.

"Well, it's finally your day to go, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Krillin said, responding to King Kai. The man looked a bit down, but at the same time, he was quite excited.

"What's wrong?" Chaotzu asked. He could tell by the rather odd look on Krillin's face that he wasn't as cheerful as he probably should be today.

"I don't know-well I do, but..." he sighed. "I guess I just wanted to be wished back earlier is all. I mean, I was hoping I'd get wished back earlier than our wedding day as they originally had planned so I could get to spend time with my family y'know?"

"And that makes today all the better," King Kai said. "Your kids will be walking all around when ya get there."

"King Kai's right," Chaotzu said, agreeing with their teacher.

He smiled. Over the past months that he's been in the other world, when he wasn't spending time training, he was watching over his family. He'd see how Marron and Castan both started to talk a bit earlier than their other siblings. Spinel and Sapphire, however, were getting the hang of walking earlier, though that only meant trouble. Even though Lazuli and Roshi were both expert fighters, they too had a bit of trouble handling the mischievous kids. It was only horrible for Oolong and poor turtle.

"I guess so." Krillin looked up for a brief moment to take a glance at the alluring gold circle of light hovering above his bald head. "I'm honored to have met you, King Kai." Krillin closed his eyes with his hands and feet together and bowed to King Kai, who bowed as well.

"I appreciate your company," King Kai said. "If you ever feel like taking a nice vacation with me and Bubbles, why don't you die sometime?"

Krillin scoffed as Chaotzu giggled a bit at the sly joke. "We'll see you around, Kaio-Sama."

The Kai nodded and watched as the two flew off, heading back to Serpent Road, which both of them had to take in order to arrive here in the first place. This wasn't their first rodeo having to go over 1 million kilometers just to take the next step in finally being home. In the past, it would most likely turn to be a big deal, but now with their enhanced speeds, they'd be on Earth in not even just a couple of hours.

"I can't wait to see Tien again," Chaotzu said gleefully as he flew alongside Krillin.

"I can't wait to see him and everyone else again either," Krillin told his friend, with just as much excitement.

Chaotzu had the biggest smile on his face. Even though he died quite horribly, he wasn't upset about that particularly. What initially upset him was the fact that he'd have to be split up from the man he considered a brother. They never went this long without one another. To Chaotzu it felt as if he was out of his own comfort zone, albeit it was partially liberating to an extent.

"Tien's gonna be shocked when he finds out I don't even have trouble holding Kaio-Ken Times 20."

Krillin's eyes bulged in shock. "Holy..." He shook his head. "Man, I know you're far more used to it more than me, but it's still hard for me to do times twenty without my bones feeling like they're about to break after."

"You might need to work on that, then," Chaotzu said.

"I guess so." Krillin said with a chuckle.

* * *

Ox drove just South of East City, which was being reconstructed still. People were trying to bring it all back to normal and had a hard time doing so. As he drove, Ox looked at the billboards.

One of them read: 'Capsule Corp breaks therapeutic barriers by discovering the cure for rare diseases.' There was a picture of Bulma on it holding a test tube with some colored liquid inside, winking.

"They're still learning new things," Ox pointed out.

"With geniuses like Bulma and her father, how couldn't they?"

"Touche." He put his focus back on the road as they got closer to their destination. There was no argument needed to be put up there. Bulma and her father were arguably the smartest people on the planet. With their newly gained knowledge from the alien out in space, it would only make sense that they passed the next scientific obstacle.

"If you ever find or here the whereabouts of the owner of Kakarot's business, please contact us at 508-535-7200." Once she read it, Chi-Chi rested her arm on the car door of her side, rubbing her head as she closed her eyes.

Ox glanced at her and could see her mood was a bit ruined just by seeing the billboard. It wasn't even the words that bothered her, it was that same old smirk Kakarot had. It brought back good memories and that was what hurt the most. Today was supposed to be a fun day, so he wasn't going to let some advertisement ruin it.

"You know...Bulma told me something, but she said that I had to keep it a secret."

Chi-Chi's eyes shot right at Ox, suddenly alerted. Ox knew his mother was quite the one for gossip and she fell into the trap as soon as she gave Ox her undivided attention. "What? What did she tell you?"

"Tell me you'll keep it a secret," Ox said with a grin.

"I will," Chi-Chi said, very deep into this. Her eyes were wide like a little puppy hungry for food. Gossip was her fuel.

"Promise?"

"YES!" Chi-Chi yelled. "Now tell me." Ox kept his mouth shut. All there happened to be was silence. The sounds of cars through the sealed windows of their vehicle could even be heard, going from the engines to some screeching in the background. Ox felt the hard stare coming from his mother, but that didn't bother him. This was a little game to him now and he had the ball in his field from the start.

"Ox!" Chi-Chi yelled, getting his attention.

"Huh?" Ox glanced at her. "Did you say something, mom?"

She gave him a low growl. Chi-Chi could tell by now that her son was mentally toying with her, deliberately putting her on edge. "What is it, son. Tell me, I promise I won't spill the beans."

"Under one condition," Ox said.

Now she was getting suspicious. Chi-Chi wasn't a dumb person and realized that her son could have been planning this from the get-go, just to get something he wanted out of this. While she definitely had her suspicions, she couldn't exactly confirm it. "Fine, I'll bite. What is it?"

Now it was time to reel her in. "I'll tell you as long as you let my little brother or little sister train with me."

"Deal," Chi-Chi quickly said.

Ox stepped onto the breaks of the car, having nearly hit a vehicle that was idle in front of him before a red light. He didn't expect her to comply so readily and that took him by surprise. "O...Okay..."

"I was already planning on doing that anyway," she added. She put her back up against the seat. "Whether it's a girl or a boy, it will be going to public school as well."

"Really?" Ox asked.

Chi-Chi nodded. "Yep."

"Why can't I go to public school then?"

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet." She snickered. "It's very simple, hun. All the studies you do right now are far more advanced than the ones in Highschool. They're all top level, some even surpassing the elite classes of the best colleges in the world!"

"Well...I kind of figured that, mom. I think I'd be able to excel in school."

"You would," Chi-Chi said. "But you're not ready for public school yet. We can wait until you're old enough for Highschool and then enroll you there. When your little brother or sister is not training or in school, you can help him or her with the studies and they will just breeze by in school."

"Wow." He made a double take to his mom as he began to drive once more, taking a left into a neighborhood. "And you had all of that figured out?"

"Yep. You'll become a great scholar and the other will be just as smart as you!"

Ox scoffed. "And I never caught on...wow."

Chi-Chi giggled. "So...what is the secret?"

"Bulma's going to have a baby, too," Ox said, finally letting her in on the secret.

"Oh, it's about time! How old is she now?"

"She just made 30," Ox answered.

"Should have popped some out earlier," Chi-Chi mused, "her window is almost shut closed, I'm sure."

"What do you mean?" Ox asked.

"You see, a woman is at her most fertile when-"

"Never mind," Ox said. He got onto what he was about to say and didn't require a specification. "I already know. It's usually between the ages of 17 to 25. Once they close in onto 30, say about 27 or more really, that's when they start to go down in attracting a suitable mate and fertility. Aren't I right?"

"Well...yeah. I wasn't going to say it just like that, but you're right on the money. I had you when I was only 19!"

"And you're 26 now," Ox said.

"Oh, don't remind me!"

The two laughed.

As Ox was driving, he looked out the window to check the houses that he happened to be passing by. He was looking for a particular one, where he was meant to go and pick up some guests. Once he found it, he began to slow down. "Here we are..." He slowly turned the steering wheel to the left, directing the car to turn into a driveway. He stopped the car and turned off the engine. "I'll go get them."

"Okay, hun."

Ox exited the car and closed the door behind him. He walked from the driveway to the front door of the house and gave it a couple of knocks. He then waited.

A couple of seconds pass and the door opened up. There appeared Mark, who seemed quite dressed up as well. The man had on a brown, silky collar shirt with a bright and shiny gold chain around his neck and a silver watch on his wrist with black denim jeans and a pair of brown dress boots.

"Whoah..."

Mark appreciated how even the young boy Ox acknowledged his appearance. "Ready, huh?"

"Yes, sir. Is Videl ready?"

Mark turned around, checking up. "Videl, you ready to go?!"

"Not yet, daddy!"

Mark looked back to Ox, picking at his afro. "Not yet, junior. We'll be out in a just a bit, kay?"

"Okay." Ox took a step back and headed back into the car. He headed back into the driver's seat and buckled up.

"Wow, Mark sure dressed up for today, didn't he?" She had her eyes glued to the door, which just opened. Out came Mark first. There, she got to see everything. "Looking good..."

"Mom..." Ox groaned.

"What?" Chi-Chi asked. She noticed Ox was somewhat perturbed by her hitting on the guy and she just realized it. "Oh, I'm sorry." She rolled her eyes. "It's nothing like that."

"Whatever..." for an inexplicable reason, Ox didn't like it when his mother even looked at other men like that. If it was his father, it was okay, but not anyone else.

"Wow!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.

"Hm?" Ox looked over as well.

Videl had just come out the door with a white dress and bead necklace that shone brightly. It wasn't anything really glamorous, but for some reason, Chi-Chi seemed to like it. "She looks so pretty!" the woman practically squealed.

Mark knocked on the window of Ox's side. He rolled it down so he could hear him. "The kid's driving?"

"Yes," Chi-Chi said.

Mark shrugged his shoulders. The man was willing to drive them all, but if Ox seemed fit for the job, who was he to argue? As long as they were to make it there safely, he'd have no problem. "Alright." He got into the backseat of the car. "Guess I'll have to put the food on my lap for the ride, huh?"

"Yeah, just bring it to one of the tables outside when you get there," Chi-Chi said.

Just on the other side, Videl entered.

"Heyy!" Chi-Chi said, greeting the little girl.

"Hey, Ms. Chi-Chi," Videl said. Unlike everyone else, Videl didn't seem so happy. She placed a martial artist backpack in the middle seat of the car and opened it, checking in on something.

"You look very pretty today!"

"Heh. Thank you."

Ox watched as Videl gripped a bit at the lower end of her clothing and moved her mouth in a bit of disgust. He noticed that she didn't seem far too comfortable.

"Come to think of it, I never see you in those types of clothes! They fit you very well, sweetheart."

Videl just blushed.

"You guys ready?" Ox asked.

"Yep!"

"Alright. Let's go." Ox started the engine of the car and began to back it up.

* * *

Just outside Capsule Corp, Bulma had arranged a little get together before the day's big event. In the backyard, there were multiple tables set, mostly filled with glasses of water and wine. There was some soothing music in the background and the crew just had a good time.

Bulma was dressed in a pink miniskirt with a Slit Cami Velvet Tank Top. Her purple hair was in curls, all that only stopped to her shoulders. Her red ruby earrings were shiny and matched with the red color of her lipstick and fingernails. The host of this temporary get-together checked in on some of the people there, making sure everyone that was meant to attend were attending the party.

Looking over, she noticed that almost everyone was dressed up; ALMOST. The only two that didn't decide to do so was Turtle because he was a legitimate turtle and wasn't physically capable of putting on a suit or any of the like. He wasn't going to make it a zero effort, though. He had a red headband wrapped around his head tightly and he walked around acting like a Ninja, chopping stuff out of entertainment.

Seeing Tien in the distance, she walked over to him. He stuck out like a sore thumb because he came out here in a muscle shirt and green pants. Not just that, though he didn't have anyone by his side for company. It was sort of obvious as to why he was here in the first place. He had a glass of water in hand, drinking it as he waited patiently. "You having a good time?"

"Yeah, I guess. Time will only get better once Chaotzu is back."

Bulma smiled. "So that's all you're here for, huh?"

"Why else would I be?" Tien asked. "I'm not a people person. The only time I find me enjoying myself with others is when I'm either fighting alongside them or against them. Other than that, it's just neutral."

"Well...can't argue with you. That's who you are. Even though you're not a people person, you still managed to make yourself best friends with Chaotzu, right? Who's to say you can't do it with others?"

"That's different," Tien said. "Chaotzu and I have a history, a very deep one. You can't just simply form bonds out with strangers as strong as the one Chaotzu and I have. Hell, I'd say that it's virtually impossible."

"And what about that lady friend of yours they also found in the fire?"

Tien didn't speak and just took another sip of water. He knew Bulma was waiting for a response, though he wasn't going to give her the one she wanted. "Let me know when you're going to make your wish," was all that Tien told her.

"Okay, Tien." Bulma knew Tien to be a pretty chill guy (if he wasn't aggravated or provoked). She didn't want to test the waters and just went with the flow. "Alright, Tien. Just know, if you want to get together and do something, you know who to call." She patted him on the shoulder and went off to tend to the other guests.

Tien looked at Bulma as she walked away, then back to his shoulder. He followed with a shrug and looked back up into the clouds, patiently waiting. "Can't wait to see you soon, friend."

Bulma went over to Oolong and Puar. Out of all the guests at the party, Oolong was the most casual, asides from Tien. He had on a white buttoned shirt and some slacks with sneakers. Puar, on the other hand, went all out with a tux and a bow tie. Both were at the table playing cards.

"You guys enjoying yourselves?"

"Would love to have some food," Oolong said. "Other than that, I'm fine. Puar's getting his butt kicked."

"He only won three times out of 4 and the last two he looked at my deck when I wasn't looking!" Puar defended.

"Nah Nah, blah blah," Oolong teased. "You lost fair and square, get over it."

Puar closed his eyes and shook his head with a long sigh. "Jeez..." Once he opened his eyes, he saw Oolong peeping right over his hand. "HEY!"

Oolong jumped back into his hair and looked over to the right side of him with his legs crossed, acting like he wasn't doing anything. "Yo, you gonna play or what?"

Puar looked over to Bulma, hoping that she'd get the point. "SEE!?"

Bulma scoffed, quite humored at their little quarrel and left off. "You guys enjoy. I'll let you know when we're ready to make the wishes."

"Alright, Bulma. Tell Yamcha I said wassup."

"Will do."

She scanned over a bit more, wondering which person she lacked in checking on. She made sure Tien was okay, as well as Puar, and Oolong. Turtle was doing just fine. All she had to check up on was...

"ROSHI!"

"Yo!" Muten Roshi came out of nowhere. He had on a fake tux and some slacks and dress shoes, wearing his trademark shades. Just behind him were a couple of female guests at the party running away, covering their chests with a sense of anxiousness.

Bulma glared at Roshi, stomping over towards him rapidly. "Calm it, old man. I don't want reports about slipping any pills into young girl's drinks or anything, understood?"

Roshi wiped his forehead. "I suppose you're right, Bulma." He wiped his lip with a handkerchief. Digging into his pant pocket, he pulled out a bottle filled with countless pills. "I know I'm old, but I guess I have to still try and play the game fair."

Bulma just stared at him.

"Here," Roshi egged on, putting the pills into her face. "Take 'em."

Bulma didn't let go of her hard stare. Roshi knew she wasn't quite happy with him, but he didn't care. He was an obdurate old man willing to test his luck any chance he got. "Well...if yur not gonna take 'em..." he started to bring the pill bottles over to Bulma's chest, where he planned on planting them inside just to cop a feel.

"No!" Bulma jacked the pills out of Roshi's hands and uppercut him in the chin. "You better learn to respect women, old man!" she scolded.

Roshi was on his back, a bit in a daze. He didn't expect to be struck so suddenly and it took him by surprise. "B-But I do respek wahmen..."

Bulma huffed and turned around. "Pervert."

* * *

After driving from one city to the other, Ox and finally made it to West City. Anyone there would be able to notice the Capsule Corporation from a couple miles away.

"There's an open parking space," Chi-Chi pointed out to her son.

Ox neared the sidewalk and decided to park into it. It was very open so he didn't have any difficulty parking it in. Once everybody got out of the car, Ox clicked a button on it, converting it back into a Hoi Poi Capsule.

"I can hear the music from here," Ox remarked.

"It's quite relaxing, too," Mark commented. "Well, I'm gonna bring this food over there. I'm sure some people are hungry, heh." He walked off.

"I'm going catch up with Bulma to let her know we're here," Chi-Chi said. She walked off, leaving Ox and Videl both behind.

Ox waited until both were out of earshot before he spoke to Videl. He looked over to her, seeing she looked a bit uneasy. "Is something the matter?"

"Ah?" Videl looked over to Ox and shook her head. "No! Of course not."

"Ya sure?" Ox prodded.

"Yep," Videl grabbed the straps of her backpack. "Let's go."

The two walked in the green grass of the front yard of Capsule Corp, making their way to the back.

"HEY!" a voice yelled from afar.

Ox and Videl looked over their shoulders from behind. Just in the street were Pilaf and Soba, both having just exited from the bus. Once Ox seen a few familiar faces, he waved at them. "Hey, guys!"

The two had big bags in their hands as they arrived. Both were dressed up in casual suits. "I was wondering if you guys would be here by the time we got back."

"Where were you?" Videl asked.

"Oh, we were just shopping for some food and drinks before we were all to head out for the wedding. We have to go by Mousea's museum by 12:00, so we should have time to eat and enjoy ourselves before departure."

"We made sure to have enough for everyone that was said to be here," Soba said, raising the bags.

"We're supposed to go inside and give all this to Mrs. Briefs anyway," Pilaf said. He bumped Soba on the shoulder. "Now let's get a move on."

"It's always good to see those guys," Ox said.

He and Videl resumed their path to the backyard, where the current get together was at. "How long have you known them?"

"They say that they were there on the day that I was born," Ox said. "Pilaf was one of the first people to hold me in his arms, he says. My mom and dad confirm it to be true, so I guess since forever, hehe."

"So you're really close," Videl noted.

"Yeah," Ox said, looking down at the ground. "They also practically raised my dad, too. Soba and Pilaf say they took him in when he was just a few years old."

"WOW," Videl exclaimed. "So that makes you guys extra close, huh?"

"Yeah...at least I have something good from my dad left behind with me here." He looked straight ahead with a quick look of anger as he sped up.

"Oh..."

"Everything seems to just be fine," Bulma said, checking her watch. "It's only 10:15 right now. Wish some of these guys would hurry up, though."

"Don't worry, we made sure to make it as quick as possible!"

Bulma didn't even have to look at whom it was that spoke. She could recognize that voice from a mile away if it screamed. "Chi-Chi!" She hugged her as a greeting. "I'm glad you could make it!"

"Me, too. Ox was excited to come, so I was kind of obligated to, hahaha."

Once she pulled back from Chi-Chi, Bulma looked down at Chi-Chi's stomach. "I can see you're starting to pop." She raised her eyebrow, grinning. "You excited?"

"Of course," Chi-Chi said, rubbing her belly. "It'll be nice to have more people in the house, ya know?"

"Oh, you don't want too many people," Bulma said as she rolled her eyes. "Trust me. Sometimes guests come in and you won't believe the noi-"

Chi-Chi stopped Bulma in her tracks with her hand. "You don't have to mention it."

"Hehehe, sorry. I'm a little tipsy."

"Already? The wedding isn't even started and you're drinking?"

Bulma shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, hahaha."

"Hey, Bulma, look who I found!"

Yamcha came out from around a corner with Lapis. Yamcha was wearing a three-piece suit as Lapis was the polar opposite, wearing a long-sleeve white t and some khakis. In his arms he carried his niece and nephew Marron and Castan while the other duo were just walking close by holding one another's hands.

"Just the person I was hoping would come sooner!" Bulma exclaimed.

"You can blame these two little rascals." Lapis directed Bulma to look at Spinel and Sapphire with his head. The two just sucked on their thumb, appearing all innocent and sweet. "They're a rowdy bunch and kept me up a good portion of the night. I woke up late and had to rush."

"Oh, still up to their antics are they?" Bulma asked.

"I don't think I want kids," Lapis mumbled.

Bulma neared a table, picked up a glass and a fork. She raised the glass and began to tap it loudly. The music was instantly cut off and all attention was pointed towards her.

"Okay, guys. First off, I want to say that I appreciate every single one of you willing to take the time out of your lovely day to come here first thing in the morning. There will be more guests over at the museum by 12 to witness the wedding, but right now is the perfect time to get started with the semi-main event of this day."

"About time," Tien said under his breath. For the first time since he's even been at the house, he got closer to the crowd, almost seeming like he was in it.

"So...I'll have my father bring out the Dragon Balls and we shall have our friends finally come back to us!"

Many of the people clapped.

"Dragon Balls?" Videl whispered into Ox's ear.

He looked over at her. It wasn't until now that he realized that the girl never got to see the Dragon. He grinned. "Oh, don't get scared. If you embrace the Dragon, you'll love it."

"What...?"

In came Dr. Briefs. The man was in his same old trench coat, surprisingly puffing on a cigar instead of a cigarette. He opened a little case in his hand and set the seven orange little orbs on the green grass below in the exact order that they were meant to be set in.

"Is this some kind of ritual?" Videl asked. She knew that dead people were to be brought back to life. That in itself was something she had to come to terms with, always having considered the promise of death being inevitable and permanent. Imagine her little brain trying to process that such a concept was only partly true.

"Watch," Ox said.

Dr. Briefs put his hands up into the air, spread out wide. He looked behind him. "Turn on the fan," he silently whispered. Then out of nowhere, his trench coat began to flap with great force. "SHENRON! BY THE WORDS OF I, THE SMARTEST MAN KNOWN OF EARTH, COMMAND YOU TO RISE!"

The great morning sun that showed in the sky seemed to be no longer as the skies were getting darker and darker by the moment. The only light given out at the current time was the small illumination of all the seven Dragon Balls that continued to glow after Shenron was told to rise.

Dr. Briefs turned around and crossed his arms, puffing on his smoke. The fan was turned off and he began to walk inside. "Always wanted to do that..."

* * *

"W-What's happening...?" one of the guests asked

Ox whispered into Videl's ear. "Whatever is happening right now and what's to come next is all normal. It's really cool."

Outside Capsule Corp, many citizens were questioning just why the hell such an abnormal thing was going on. This has happened more than once, but it seemed to be occurring more often now. A policewoman stopped on her bike, looking across as orange lightning streaks converted into a Dragon due to the Dragon Balls.

"There they go again..." she shook her head and continued to ride. Whatever was happening didn't seem to be breaking the law, so she continued on her way.

A giant, green Dragon with red eyes stared at the many people below him. "Hm..." he let out a low and short sigh. Many of the faces he was seeing now were the faces he has seen before. Of course, the new faces to see him all seemed quite petrified of his presence, though he did not care.

"W-Wow..." Videl was amazed at not the size of the Dragon, but the length. He had a long body, all of which just seemed to curve from various different angles. "He could be seen from a city away, couldn't he?"

Even though Shenron didn't feel the need to properly introduce himself as the majority of the people below already knew how this was supposed to go, he decided to just get it over with. "I am Shenron. I shall grant you any wish of three. Now speak."

"His booming voice ain't change at all I see," Rosh commented

"Shenron!" Bulma called out. "Our first wish would be if you could wish back every innocent person killed by the androids and cyborgs on earth in the past six months!"

"That is an easy task." Shenron hummed a bit as his eyes began to glow red. A few seconds pass and his red eyes turn back to its darker shade. "Your wish has been granted! What is your second?"

"Can you bring back all the destroyed structure and land caused by the androids and cyborgs on planet earth from the past half year?"

"Yes..." Shenron's eyes began to glow red once more. "Now...what is your final wish?"

"Our third and final wish is for you to teleport the earthlings known as Krillin and Chaotzu right here in this backyard!"

Shenron's eyes glowed red for a slight moment. Out of nowhere appeared Krillin and Chaotzu, who both just looked around in a bit of confusion.

"W-What the...?" he looked at Chaotzu. "Weren't we just flying?"

"Yeah...!"

"Your third and final wish has been granted!" Shenron boomed.

"Whoah!" Krillin turned around to face the dragon from behind. The voice had almost knocked him on his face.

"Farewell!" The Dragon turned into a streak of golden lightning yet again prior to vanishing into the Dragon Balls, all of which slowly ascended off the grass and into the sky.

"Yamcha, you know what to do!"

"Got it." Yamcha rocketed into the sky. As the Dragon Balls circled in with one another, getting ready to shoot off into seven different directions, Yamcha was ready for it. The moment they all were getting ready to be propelled away, he caught all of them in just a couple of seconds, moving faster than all of them. None below could even see how fast he moved.

He touched back down with orange Dragon Balls now converted to stone in his arms. The sudden night had vanished and the moon was making its reappearance. "Here you are." He placed all of the stones into the case Dr. Briefs had pulled out just moments ago and placed them all in there. "Now we only need to wait a year."

"That's them?" Videl asked, pointing at Chaotzu and Krillin.

Ox nodded.

"We're back home!" Krillin exclaimed. He raised his fist to the sky. "OH YEAH!"

"Welcome back," Lapis said, nearing Krillin. "I can tell you've gotten stronger."

"It's good to see you, old friend." He looked at the kids in Lapis' arms and smiled. "Give 'em here," Krillin said.

"Afraid no can do," Lapis said. He moved his head to the side. "You need to head inside Capsule Corp and get dressed. Lazuli is waiting for you at Musea's museum. Once you get dressed, you have to head over there as well and wait for us."

"Really?" Krillin asked.

"Get to it," Lapis said.

"Snap, snap!" Castan said.

"SNAP!" Marron copied.

Lapis chuckled. "You heard them. Get to it."

"Oh man, I'm just happy to see them." Krillin dashed off, running inside Capsule Corp.

Lapis turned over to Chaotzu, who was on Tien's shoulder. The tri-clops walked over to them all, seeming much more happy that he was finally reunited with his friend. "I thank all of you."

"You don't have to," Bulma said.

"Chaotzu and I will be heading out right now, then."

"Why don't you two stay and just eat with us?" Bulma asked. "When everyone else is headed to the wedding, you guys can just go home."

Tien looked over at Chaotzu. "Hm? What do you say, Chaotzu? You wanna stay and eat?"

"Yeah," Chaotzu said. "I haven't eaten good food since I've been on King Kai's planet!"

"Hahaha, alright. Okay, we'll stay then, but just to eat."

"Good," Bulma said. "I'll go get all the food ready."

And that was it for the get together of the morning. For the next hour and a half people just ate, socialized, and had fun. Everything was finally back to normal thanks to the help of Shenron, so everything would be able to be thoroughly enjoyed.

* * *

Musea's museum was still quite empty as it had been recently opened. Only some pictures of parties and what not filled the walls of the place, though it wasn't even just a portion of the museum in itself. There were two giant pictures, one of Kakarot and Bulma. They were the two faces seen on opposite walls of the black and white colored museum from the very moment one was to step foot in there. These were the two people that helped fund the museum be built in its entirety, so this was his special thanks for them.

Hundreds of guests showed up, a lot of them not even knowing Bulma. They were simply extended businessmen, all of whom were mostly rich. A lot of locals came to East City just because they wanted to experience what it was like. It was all paid for, so they figured that they could get in for free, and so they did.

In one giant room, there were hundreds of square feet with dozens of chairs grouped up together. Many guests began to take their seats and sit down under the chandelier lights. The only ones in there before were the musicians, all of whom played sound music, appeasing and calming to the ears.

A lot of people were mesmerized by the place, never having been in such an environment before. Some people were photographers, in there for the pictures only. They made sure to get the incredulous reactions of the people there as well as the heartwarming moments so they could be posted up on the wall.

"This place is huuuge!" Oolong nearly shouted. "Holy mother on a stick."

There were equal reactions in the group. Soba was behind Pilaf, holding him tightly. "Hold me, please..." The dog felt so small compared to this place. Even though they had hundreds of chairs in this single room, there was still a couple more stories up ahead, some of them even beginning to be filled up.

"Make sure you guys take the seats with your names on it," Bulma said. "I made sure to get some reserved for us so we can get the first view."

"That's great," Chi-Chi said. "Must have cost you extra."

"Oh, a little bit, but not too much," Bulma said. "10 million Zeni is nothing."

Chi-Chi just shook her head.

Everyone was just getting seated and settled.

Everyone had their attention to the man who held the rings of both bride and groom. He was a minister and patiently waited, with a book in his hand.

"I'm glad all of you could make it today," the man said. He needed not a speakerphone or anything to augment the acoustics of his voice. People made sure to be respectful and remained silent. "Today, us people, friends, family, some strangers even, come to show support of two fortunate individuals willing to bond with one another for the grace of love this faithful day."

"Oh, he's going to start with a long ass monologue..." Bulma sighed.

Roshi, who was right behind her, giggled. The man drunk a little too much at the get-together and the only one who seemed to notice was turtle. He sat aside Roshi and looked at him. He could tell the man was up to something. "Master..." he whispered.

Roshi leaned in on Bulma's neck and spoke. "I'll make sure he cuts to the chase, m'lady." He backed up and spoke out loud. "NO NEED FOR THE LONG INTRODUCTION, BRING THESE TWO FOOLS OUT SO WE CAN PARTY!"

Bulma shut her eyes in embarrassment as all eyes were on Roshi. Some giggles could be heard, showing they were quite amused by his sudden outburst.

"Well...I'll make sure to not keep you all long. I know what you're here for, but are you sure you don't want to hear the good love of Kami before we start?"

"NO! Oolong yelled.

Bulma's eyes widened. She turned around and smacked him upside the head so quickly that the Namekian (Kami) watching above didn't even manage to decipher her movements. "Shut it..." she whispered.

"I appreciate the honesty."

Roshi bumped Oolong in the shoulder and pointed over to the other section of the room. "Look..."

Oolong did so and noticed a couple of females looking their way with some smiles. They all discretely waved at them, not being noticed by anyone else. Oolong smirked. "Oh, we're going to have some fun tonight..."

"I wish to bring out the bride first. It is she, who has been waiting ever so patiently these past few hours, to get this wedding started." He snapped his fingers.

And so the music began to play. Lazuli closed her eyes as she walked. The blonde looked very eloquent and had a few gasps coming her way as she walked along the pathway. She was dressed in a white and royal halter wedding dress.

"Wow..." Roshi mumbled. The blue diamond earrings shone brightly against his dark shades as he passed him up.

Lazuli didn't mind all the stares, though she just hoped to get this over with. All she wanted was Krillin and Krillin only. As long as she got to see him, she didn't mind. Once she reached the stage, she patiently stood.

"This is the beautiful lady whom the groom will be marrying. May he now enter."

Krillin walked in with an orange wedding suit. He felt it was perfect for him as it represented the colors of the man to teach him a lot of things he knows now in not only fighting but in life.

"W-Where's the groom?" Oolong asked, chuckling.

Roshi had to hide a couple laughs as well. "Good one..."

Bulma turned around, glaring at them both. "If you two don't shut the hell up, we'll be having a special kind of bacon for an upcoming funeral next weekend." They both kept their traps sealed. Bulma then smiled diabolically before turning back around.

"Wow..." Videl said. She saw weddings on movies and shows on the television, but none as good as this. Her eyes were dazzling with all the great colored lights and the simple ambiance of the place. It was a little girl's dream.

Mark eyed his daughter, seeing she was taken aback by this as well. He playfully acted as if he punched his little girl in the face softly, eliciting a smile and giggle out of her. She looked over to the side in the other section of the room.

Ox was watching them holding hands together. There was nothing but pure silence except the music that played (loving you-Minnie Riperton). He could feel a soft stare from afar but didn't really pay any mind to it. When he did look back, Videl quickly shifted her gaze back to the groom and bride. He decided to do so as well.

"Here are the words from the groom to the bride. So groom...I want you to repeat aft-"

"No need," Krillin said. "I remember all the words."

"Uh..."

Lazuli smirked, knowing Krillin would do this.

"This woman, I marry

No matter what the health situation is

I will love this person

Respect this person

Console this person

Help this person

Until death

Protecting fidelity

I swear."

The minister fixed his glasses and cleared his throat. "Well...there certainly seems to be that a lot of practice was put into this. Now...bride...rep-"

"I got this, jackass." A lot of people in the crowd started to laugh.

"Get 'em, sis..." Lapis said.

"This man, I marry

No matter what the health situation is

I will love this person

Respect this person

Console this person

Help this person

Until death

Protecting fidelity

I swear."

"I for one truly appreciate how much you two remember this," the minister said. "This simply shows the amount of devotion the two of you truly have for one another." He looked over at the woman. "

"Krillin, you and this woman marry and you become thou so become partner. Will you in peaceful times, during sickness, show this person love, respect, comfort, and help, until death? Do you promise to fulfill this?"

"I do," Krillin said.

"Okay...Lazuli."

"Yes, jackass...I will, in peaceful times, during sickness, show this person love, respect, comfort, and help, until death. I promise to fulfill this."

"Hm," He handed them both rings which were displayed on a soft heart-shaped pillow. He watched as Krillin and Lazuli both exchanged rings and gave them their own. Once that was done, all left were the final words to make it official"...I now present to you all...husband and wife."

Krillin hopped up and pecked his woman on the lips. People in the crowd all began to cheer. As soon as he touched back down, Krillin picked his woman up from her feet and began to float off the ground. "Lapis...I hope you're okay with keeping our children for a couple more weeks."

Lapis grinned. "Do what you gotta do."

Lazuli looked at her brother. "Make sure you take care of that jackass for me, hm?" Due to all the crowds clapping and cheering, Lapis and Krillin were the only ones able to understand her.

He nodded.

"Jackass!" Spinel yelled.

"Jackass!" Sapphire copied.

The two babies waddled over to the minister, who just smiled. He bent over, looking at them in the face. "And how may I help you two?"

Spinel poked him in the eyes, leaving Sapphire with an opening to kick him in the groin. The minister's eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets.

"THE JERK DESERVES IT FOR TRYING TO COURT ME WHILE WE WERE ALONE! JACKASS!"

Then came an uproar from the crowd. People began to close in on the man as he remained on the ground, holding his cojones. He could feel the dozens of people encircling him. He managed to open his eyes, though only just a little bit. Right in his face was Bulma, smiling devilishly at him.

"Oh no..."

After five minutes of having a good time with the minister, he was thrown outside in tattered closes and blood everywhere. He got up on his feet and ran away crying, being chased by a mob of people.

Lapis was the only person in his seat, still holding Marron and Castan. "Hm, if they would have let me at him, I would have kicked his ass."

"Kick," Marron shouted.

"Ass," Castan finished.

"Hm." He got up and walked over to Bulma, who was quite proud of the treatment she rendered him. "As much as I'd love to be at the reception, I have some little ones to look after. I know if I stay, I'm staying all night. So I'll take my leave now." He winked at them prior to turning around. He looked down at Spinel and Sapphire. "You two hold tightly onto my legs now." They did so and Lapis flew through the door.

Bulma looked at everyone surrounding her. "Well...we still have a party room waiting for us a couple of halls down. Let's go!"

* * *

(Put on some 80's/90's classics if you wanna get in the mood...)

The room was a party room indeed. The lights were initially dimmed but brightened up by multiple neon lights in the room. More music was played in the ballroom. Bulma clapped and started to dance. She neared Yamcha and grabbed him by the hands. "Come on, babe. Let's have some fun."

When people entered this room, it was as if they all became a brand new person. One would come in calm and stoic but would start losing control of their feet once they touched the dance floor.

"FOODS ARE OVER THERE!" Bulma pointed out.

Chi-Chi grabbed Ox by the shoulder and grabbed him by the wrist. She got Videl and did the very same. "You two come on now..."

"Mom..." Ox groaned. "You're pre-"

"Oh, hush!" She began to swing her hips. "It's good for pregnant women to do some exercise. Let's go now!"

Videl giggled. "I'll be right back!" She detached herself from Chi-Chi and dashed out the room.

Ox was left a bit confused as to why she would leave so suddenly, in a rush. The odd thing was she actually seemed excited. If she was happy, then that just made things better.

Chi-Chi shrugged. "Well, come on boy." She twirled her son around. "Let's dance."

"GUYS!" Bulma said over the announcement. The music died down a bit as she spoke. "I just want you all to know that me, Bulma Briefs, will be having a kid! Haha. Yamcha is the lucky guy and we'll be getting married in a few months, too! Make sure to drop by my wedding, too!"

"WHOOHHH!"

Ox looked back up to his mother. "She's getting married, too!"

"Heh. All the better."

"I'm back!" Videl said, sliding in the room.

"Hohhhh..." Ox noticed the immediate change.

Videl slipped out of her dress and came in with casual jeans that stopped just above her knees and a white tank top. She looked much more comfortable and began to tap her feet. "Let's dance, Ox!"

"You want to?"

Videl nodded.

"There ya go, boy!" Chi-Chi teased, pushing Ox into Videl's arms. "Have fun!" She moonwalked away from the two, slipping into the crowd while waving.

"Hahaha, your mom is fun when she isn't uptight," Videl commented.

Ox never thought of it, but his mom hadn't really pushed him to study or anything when they did get back home. She, in fact, let him do what he pleased, not pressuring him as much, though she still made sure to keep him on track. "I guess so, hehe." Ox raised Videl's arms above her head and spun her around.

"I see you young bull!" Roshi said, dancing in the middle of two women, giving him a sandwich. "Hehehe..."

Oolong was shaking his little tail alongside a woman about three times his height. He didn't care though, as long as he could enjoy himself and get a little treat by the end of the night, he wasn't complaining.

"This is great, isn't it?" Yamcha asked Bulma as they both danced together.

"Damn right, haha."

Chi-Chi popped up out of nowhere, placing her arms around the two. "What's going on!?" She asked, smiling widely.

"Dancin!" Bulma said. "Join us!"

"Of course!" Chi-Chi grabbed Bulma and Yamcha by the hands and let them both spin her around.

"I THINK IM GONNA BE SICK WHEN I GET HOME!" Turtle was picked up by some drunk woman who thought he was just such the adorable little thing. She grabbed him by the fin and just spun in the same spot. He could feel the vomit coming up. He kept his mouth sealed and swallowed it back down. 'Oh man...'

"This is the most fun I've ever had since we've fought the first time," Videl said.

"Wait...you...had fun?"

"Yeah!" Videl exclaimed. "I've been fighting for as long as I can remember. I never thought there'd be people like you and Mr. Piccolo. When I got the chance to fight, I had the time of my life!"

It never crossed his mind that Videl actually enjoyed that. The way he recalled it, he was simply challenging her to the brink of her limits. Even when she knew she couldn't go on any longer, she continued to push herself. The fact that she actually liked it reminded him somewhat of...Kakarot.

"Oh..."

Videl noticed the solemn look on Ox's face. "Come on, follow me." She ran out of the room.

"Where to...?" he asked. Videl didn't look back and continued on running. It was most likely that she hadn't heard him. He looked behind him, checking on everyone. Roshi and Oolong were both double-teaming some woman on the dancefloor. Turtle was super dizzy, looking as if he drunk a bit too much. And most importantly, his mom was enjoying herself.

"Come on!" Videl said, poking her head back in.

Ox shrugged and decided why not. The last time they were in a party, he lost her. He didn't feel like going out of touch again. "Okay!" he ran towards her.

Once Ox reached the exit of the dancefloor, Videl yanked him by the hand. "WHOAH!" Ox felt himself nearly falling to the floor. Videl held onto him and helped him up.

"Stop over-reacting, Ox," Videl said.

"Hahaha..." he scratched his head full of long hair. "How'd you know?"

"I'm not stupid." She crouched down and reached into her backsack near her. She dug into it for a little bit. From there she pulled out a big sheet of paper. "Here."

"Hm?"

"Take it and open it." She bit her lip, blushing.

"Okay..." Ox opened up the paper.

There showed a drawing of two stick figures: one of them had extremely long hair, though it was obvious by the clothes that he was a boy. The one drawn on the side was a female stick figure with long black hair that passed her shoulders, though braided in pigtails. Between the two drawings was that of a heart colored in red.

Above the boy, drawing showed Ox and the one above the girl showed Videl.

Ox+Videl=Oxel.

Ox blushed as well. Though the artistic talent wasn't there, the obvious gesture was far more than enough.

"I like you, Ox."

"Wha-?" Ox looked from the drawing and to Videl.

The girl gave him a quick peck on the lips. The half-blood's boil began to rise as his cheeks were turned flush red. He seemed to be frozen in place.

"Do you like me, Ox?" She watched him look down a bit, blushing still. "Well...?"

"Y-yea..." he whispered.

Videl thought she heard a yes, but wasn't too sure. Her ears perked up. "What was that?"

"I like you, too, Videl."

"Good. If you were going to say no, I was gonna ball the paper up and shove it up your hiney!"

"Really!?"

"Hahaha, no! I want you to keep it. Can you?"

"Yes!" Ox folded the paper back up and placed it into his pocket.

"Great!" Videl pulled Ox back into the dancefloor. "Let's dance!"

A clean night full of fun and entertainment was all that followed next. The marriage got over with quickly, but the party...not so much.

 _Nobody ended up hurt or harmed and everyone left happy...except the minister, I guess. Regardless, everyone had a hell of a time. Stay tuned for the upcoming chapters!_


	64. Occasional Tranquility

"Come on, you shouldn't be so hasty!" Yamcha was by Bulma's side, helping her get from the bed.

The woman let out a low growl at Yamcha, not out of hostility, but mere aggravation. It had only been a couple weeks since she announced that she was indeed pregnant and she was still only in her first trimester. She wasn't showing so all the extra caution coming from her fiance was getting to her quite a bit.

"There." Yamcha crouched down, just a bit below eye level with Bulma as she was sitting on side of the bed. "All good?"

"Yamcha, you don't have to pamper me." She stood up on her two feet. "I'm gonna go get some break-"

"No." Yamcha put her back down on the bed. "You only get up if you have to use the restroom. If there's breakfast you want, I'll get the butler to make a meal." He winked.

"Yamcha, that's not nec-"

"Puar!" Yamcha called out.

Yamcha and Bulma could hear the sounds of the floating cat making way to their room as he hummed. For some reason, he had a red bow tie wrapped around his throat. "Puar at your service." He bowed.

Bulma and Yamcha had both chuckled at how he was role-playing as a servant, just for simple entertainment. "Get the butler to prepare my wife some food."

"Okay." Puar turned around. "Right on it, Yamcha!"

"Hey!" Yamcha yelled. Puar floated backward, looking back to his old friend. It seemed like he wasn't finished with what he had to say, so he waited. "Make sure you tell him to make sure that what Bulma eats has a lot of iron, zinc, and magnesium." He snapped his fingers. "And make sure she gets some green juice as well."

"Okay." Puar floated away to do as told.

"Yamcha!" Bulma nearly shrieked.

"Huh?" The man turned around. "What's the matter?"

"I hate green juice! It's nasty!"

"If you hate it, you hate it." Bulma smiled, beginning to calm down. Since Yamcha has been catering to her a lot more than usual, he would have the green juice canceled. "But you're gonna drink it anyway," he continued. Her eyes nearly popped out her sockets.

"WHAT!?"

The scarred martial artist had his hands on his hips with his chin held up high. "Our first child is going to be a healthy one, Bulma. If he or she doesn't get the right amount of nutrients, then it may come out inefficient. You don't want a retarded baby, do you?"

Bulma glared at her fiance. "Retarded baby or not, it will still be our child!"

Even if pregnant, Bulma's cold stares made him shudder. "Hey, calm down...I'm just saying. It's for not only your best interest but for the baby's as well." He chuckled lightly, hoping to calm her nerves down. Seeing that she still wasn't in the slightest amused, Yamcha sat down next to her and held her hand. "C'mon, babe. You know I only have your best interests at heart." He then grinned. "Later on tonight, after I finish my baseball game, we're gonna go out for a fancy dinner. What do ya say?"

Her eyebrows rose. "Now that's how you make it up to your girl." She pinched his cheeks tightly.

"Haha." He got up and began to leave the room. "I'm going to go to the game, okay?" He grabbed a bag full of equipment near the door and picked it up. "I'll come home, make sure you get a big lunch, then we'll relax a bit before heading out for dinner. Sound nice?"

"Sounds perfect," Bulma said.

Yamcha winked again before heading out the door.

"Ah..." she let out a big sigh. Even though Yamcha was being a doting fiancee, it felt like a breath of fresh air when he was gone. She slouched down into her bed, staring at the ceiling. She recalled when she and Yamcha were together and everything seemed right, albeit he had commitment issues. At first, she took him back when she did because she felt that there weren't any other options. But the time being spent with him felt not only familiar but refreshing in a sense. Yamcha was acting differently as a boyfriend/fiancee and she appreciated it. Perhaps this was the relationship she didn't want but needed.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Ox. You give me any more food and I'm gonna pop!" Even though her words showed implications of being against the constant eating, Chi-Chi would instinctually grab each plate of food that her son was giving to her. She dug into the plate and grabbed a bite of baked fish. "Mhm...your cooking has been getting better these past few weeks, too!"

"Haha, thanks," Ox said. The boy was in a little apron cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Chi-Chi was over seven months pregnant now and it seemed like her water would break at any time. Ox, when not studying or training with Videl, would simply be taking care of her. Most sons would find it mundane to do such things for their mother, but Ox felt obligated and thoroughly enjoyed servicing her when needed.

"It's kind of funny how we can afford about ten butlers and 200 maids, but we have not one of them here!"

"That's because you've always taken it upon yourself to do the cooking and cleaning, mom..." Ox said, pouring a glass of wine. He only put a portion of it in there.

"What's that?" Chi-Chi looked away from the television and into the kitchen. She heard the dripping sounds and spotted her son pouring the wine. "OX!"

"Eh?" He looked at her.

It seemed like the kid was turning more and more into his father every day. "Don't drink that!"

"This isn't for me, mom. I don't even like wine." He handed her the glass. "It's for you."

"Oh...heh." She took the glass and got a sip. "Thank-you."

"No problem." He took off his apron and set it on a stool by the dining counter in the kitchen. He got him a bag of chips and plopped himself on the couch right beside his mother. The two were watching a planetary show and just relaxing. No words were said as they simply enjoyed their time together.

* * *

"And you truly think this place will be okay for us?" Lazuli was in the outskirts of West City, looking for open areas to bring a home of her own into.

"Ah thenk tll beh jst fene, hun," Krillin said with a mouthful of miniature donuts. The man was in a police uniform, having just recently decided to join the force. Using his Superhuman natural abilities do resolve petty crime and other of the likes would get him to rank up pretty quickly. Krillin was sure of it.

"How about you speak coherently?" Lazuli asked.

Krillin swallowed down the donuts and wiped his face. "I think it'll be just fine. Here it'd only cost us half an hour drive to be by Bulma's and even quicker if we just take flight. We're not too involved with the city compared to living in the middle of it, so we'll still have some peace over here like we do on Roshi's island."

"Alright, fine by me. I'll be sure to head over to a few stores to get capsules we can put our clothes and other materials in before heading back to Roshi's so I can pick up the kids."

"I kind of feel bad for Roshi and Oolong right now," Krillin said. He could only imagine the kind of trouble they were going through with the kids, Spinel and Sapphire specifically. "Not only do they have to put up with snappy (Spinel) and slappy (Sapphire), but they're gonna have fewer people there now."

"Consider me happy to finally get out of there," Lazuli said, crossing her arms. "I'm just about tired of having to break that old man's shades everytime I catch him looking at me funny."

"Heh." Krillin stuffed his hands into the white bag of powdered donuts and stuffed some more into his mouth. He and Lazuli stared at the spacious green lands for a while. Now both were starting to see it. A house in this empty lot would be perfect.

"STEP ON IT!"

Screeching tires could be heard in the distance. A duo of men just snatched a man and its family of their wallet and other personal belongings.

"P-Police!" a man called out.

"That's your cue," Lazuli said to her husband.

Krillin ran right past his bike and jumped off the ground, flying at super speeds. As soon as Lazuli heard a big bang, she knew that the crime was already over. No normal person was topping Krillin's power. She wondered just how much the crime rate would lower within the next few months.

* * *

"Hiya!"

"Ohh!"

Mark fell down right on his ass. Videl had motioned her left leg down, having just rendered her father a soft kick, something he barely managed to block. "Dad...you okay?"

Mark got back up, rubbing his butt. "Darn, Videl...you're far too strong for your old man." He then grinned. "But if I can still take a kick from you like that at full force, you still have a long ways to go."

"But...I didn't even try to kick you that hard. It was like a tap."

"A tap?" Mark asked. "How was that a tap? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH FORCE YOU PUT INTO THAT?" The man was stunned. Here his seven-year-old girl was knocking him on his ass after a kick which she compared to being equal in force to a simple tap. He didn't know if she had lost her marbles or not.

"Look." Videl pressed her finger against her dad's thigh. "Like this."

"Now that's a tap, Videl." He scoffed. "There's no way even the softest of soft kicks would make a man like me fall down like that." Videl hadn't removed her finger from her dad's thigh. She simply touched it. Now she was going to put a bit of force into it. For some unexplainable reason, Mark found himself losing balance a bit. The man's left foot rose off the ground without his say so prior to him falling on his ass...yet again.

"See?" Videl asked.

Mark was staring into the clouds as he was on his back. "What has this world become of?"

"I'm off to see Ox, okay?"

"Ox?" Mark plopped back up onto his feet. "When? Where? Right now?"

"Yes, daddy. As always."

"You two are going to train right?" Videl's eyes shifted to the side for a split moment. Mark didn't give her the chance to reply. "Ah, I knew it..." His quick flash of irritation was replaced by that of calmness. He chuckled. "I don't know why I'm even worried. You two are the strongest kids in the world. No harm will come for you two, anyway."

"Yep!" Videl shot off into the sky without warning.

"WHOAH!" Mark fell over again due to the pressure of her flight. From below, he watched as his daughter was flying through the air as if she was an airplane. "She's gotta teach me one of these days..."

* * *

At home, Ox and Chi-Chi had finished their food but was still watching television.

Out the fields of grass from a high bush was being divided on the television, revealing multiple elk eating patches of grass above the dry land. A narrator was speaking over the television, describing everything that was going on.

"The lone wolf, a solitary killer, stalks its prey." The elk all heard a crack in the distance and turned around to see what was there, all very alerted. Nothing appeared to be there, so they turned back to eating their grass. With the elk now at peace, the wolf slowly began to close in on its victims. Out of nowhere, he came dashing from the bushes.

One of the elk that was with the herd takes a right, separating itself from the others. The wolf tracks down that elk and pounces on it. Once the elk was killed, it began to feast.

"This wolf can consume eight times its body weight."

From around the wolf slowly began to form other animals, those of inferior status to the wolves. The wolf growled at each of them, forcing them to back off.

"The others will have to wait their turn."

Ox hopped off the couch. "I'm about to hea-"

The kid paused midsentence. All this time he hadn't even realized it, but his mother was sleep. She looked so much at ease when resting. He picked her up from the couch and laid her down softly. Not from one single movement did she wake. He grabbed a blanket from the couch's armchair and covered her with it.

Chi-Chi shifted around a bit, now lying in a fetal position. "Ox?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing, honey?"

"I'm going to meet with Videl, mom. I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

"Mhm..." Being as tired as she was, she didn't even bother to form words. Her eyes fluttered and she just went back to resting mode.

From the entrance of the house exited the young boy. Just above in the air was Videl, levitating. He had felt her presence coming near as she flew and realized that she was coming here on a day that they were not even training. If anything, she wanted to take a fly across the world again.

Ox hovered in the sky, meeting at the exact level as Videl. "Hi."

"Hi. You wanna take a fly around town?"

"I'm up for it."

"Well..." she grabbed his hand. "let's go."

What most people considered dates as going out to dinner, watch a movie, hang out in the mall or park, was something Ox and Videl did by flying around. When Videl said she wanted to fly around town, she met the entire planet. For them, it was just a couple hours, depending on how fast they were going.

Not once during their little dates did their hands detach from one another.

* * *

'Treason...that's all it is these days.' Kakarot was thinking to himself. Just reminiscing about the bad times as a youngster, he recalled as to how he felt betrayed on multiple occasions. He had just got done plundering a world that used to belong to Freeza's and now took it as his own. He was already in his ship, headed for the next. He remained there, thinking to himself.

Dedana and Vino were both drinking a few glasses of wine, laughing and joking with one another. They seemed to be having a genuinely good time. Kakarot looked at them, though they were so caught up in their own conversation that he remained completely unaware.

"What's crawled up your butt, huh?" Saru was directly in Kakarot's face taking the lotus position as he levitated in the air upside down. He rubbed his chin, studying Kakarot's facial expressions, which seemed to be completely blank at the moment. "Ah...don't tell me you're jealous! You see they're having a fun time, and you're not."

Kakarot knew it was better not to speak with Saru when others were around. They would assume that he was speaking to them instead of this fabricated guy. What he hated most about Saru was his face, because it looked exactly like his own.

"You're not letting yourself have fun, that's the problem. I know you better than anyone else in the universe. You'd be in their conversation, having a good time, drinking. Heh...you don't even drink that much anymore." In his hands appeared a glass of wine, which wasn't spilling at all. "Ah..." Saru took another sip. "You're letting that guy get in your head."

He knew what guy Saru was referring to, but Kakarot himself didn't even know who the guy was. He just kept appearing in nothing but dark spaces when he rested. That was exactly what had been making him a restless person these past months now. Nearly everytime he slept, his dreams would be interfered or altered by the same person, the same person he had no idea about.

"He may say some good points, but he's steering you incorrectly. You know you shouldn't listen to him, but you do anyway. Just by listening to you take all your pleasures away: Chi-Chi, Ox...Earth."

Kakarot sighed. "Shut-up. Go away."

Both Dedana and Vino looked over to Kakarot, who they caught staring directly at them. seeing Kakarot with such an emotionless look but a cold stare was totally creepy. "Okay..." Dedana stood up. "Let's go, Vino."

"With pleasure." Vino stood up, exiting the room with Dedana.

"Sorry." Saru flipped over, now in a regular lotus position. He took a sip of wine before continuing his conversation with Kakarot. "The only way I can go away is..."

"If I kill you," Kakarot finished.

"Well, YOU can't kill me, Kakarot. Honestly, you know what's the only way to get rid of me, but what the hell. You're in too deep anyway. Hehehehe. It'd be bad to get rid of me anyway because I actually like you. You're a genuine person."

KABOOSH!

"We're here," Kakarot spoke. The same rocky feeling of landing on a different world was all too familiar to him. He was ready to get carried on with business as usual.

"Another planet full of inferiors to soon bite the dust, eh?"

Kakarot ignored Saru's comment and walked through the doors. Looking over to his right, he saw Dedana and Vino making way towards him.

"We're here?" Dedana asked.

Kakarot nodded, confirming her own assumptions. "We need not waste time. Let's go."

"Wait," Vino called out. "Sir, if it's okay I come with you this mission, I'll gladly join you."

"Then who will be here to guard the ship in our absence?" Kakarot asked.

"I can do it," Dedana said. "I don't have a problem with watching over the ship while you two go out there and handle business."

"Okay." Kakarot turned around. "Let's go, Vino."

"Be safe, Vino!" Dedana called out.

"Oh, I will."

He and Kakarot walked through the corridors of their ship, making way to the exit of it. While walking, Vino felt it best to start conversation. "Truly, when it's all said and done...when every planet owned by Freeza is under your belt, what then?"

"What do you mean what then?" Kakarot inquired.

"What after you have everything a man could ever want. I know you've brought it up before, but I want true confirmation. What do you want?"

"What do I really want?" Kakarot asked, to which Vino nodded. Perhaps this time, he would finally get some answers. He noticed Kakarot had been more secluded and out of the ordinary recently and he was hoping to get something out of the man. "What I want is for you to seize with your questions and simply follow orders. You'll see in due time, Vino."

And that was not the answer he wanted. But what more could he expect? Kakarot had been treating him and Dedana more like an inferior person recently, or as if they weren't there sometimes. He remembered when he first met Kakarot, the man acted as if he had class, a true charmer. Now he was some anti-social alien who seemed to have trouble socializing with others.

The two men had made it out and were both surrounded by a teal colored world with giant bright stars in the air. The lands below them were a solid green concrete and the air smelled of roses.

"Another nice planet..." Vino said, observing the place.

"For me," Kakarot said, adding onto Vino's statement.

PIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"HEY! Both of you stop right there!" The orders came from three soldiers, all who were definitely under Freeza's influence. One of them was a tall and lanky man, the other short and obese, while the one in the middle was of average height and real athletic build.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to-"

"Kill you," Kakarot interrupted. A ki blast flew from the palm of his hand and blasted the man in the midst of the other two soldiers directly in the chest. A gaping hole was left there, much to his dismay, as well as the others.

"W-What the?"

He froze, looking at the hole he was rendered by Kakarot. He felt the wind brisking through his burning wound, which only pained him even more. He slowly looked up to Kakarot, who was grinning, few his front teeth showing with that sadistic, smug look.

Vino was taken aback by the sudden attack, as well as everyone else. The man had fallen over to his death, twitching for the next few seconds.

PIPIPIPIPIPIPI

"He only has a power-level of 750!" One of the men called out. "Kill that son of a bitch."

"Right!" The fat soldier raised his hand and fired an attack from the blast gauntlet he wore.

Kakarot smacked the weak ball of ki with his backhand with ease. His hand remained to his side and a dark blue glow began to surround his body. His air was blowing with the increased pressures of the wind.

PIPIPIPIPIPI

"W-What's the scouter say?"

"H-He's..." the man couldn't take the numbers increasing. It seemed like they'd be jumping a couple ten thousand points every few seconds for eternity. Being fed up with fear, he turned around and began to run away.

"Vino," Kakarot called out.

Vino did as told and fired a blast against the man's back. Unlike what Kakarot had done to the other, he was simply knocked off his feet and fell hard face first onto the concrete ground. The only remaining member was shaking in his boots.

"Call all the reinforcements on this planet," Kakarot told the men. "It won't make a difference."

His shaky arms slowly rose up near the side of his head. He wanted to click the scouter and call them all in but was petrified. He clicked the button of his scouter with his shaky index finger.

"Come in."

"W-We...we have a problem."

"And what pr-"

The scouter was busted to mere pieces of glass as soon as Kakarot's bone-crushing elbow came into contact with the soldier's cheek. He fell over on his back and skidded over across the concrete, flipping over every few seconds.

The Saiyan looked on and saw there were absolutely no body movements coming from him, nor could he feel an energy signal: he was dead.

"K-Kkk..."

"I'll go take care of the other one," Vino said.

"No need." Kakarot walked forward for the fallen soldier. "Let this rest on my hands."

The fallen soldier was in a panic. Just thinking about the treatment that both of his comrades got, he could only imagine what would happen to him. He crawled up ahead, reaching out for a life he knew that was coming to a close. Oh, how much he wished he wasn't in this current predicament. He needed not to look back because he could feel the evergrowing eerie presence of the ruthless Saiyan edging behind him. First, it was the shadow, then it was the foot-steps. His end was coming near.

The heart in his chest wanted to explode. He felt so anxious. "P-Please...make it quick."

Kakarot stood over the man with his arms crossed. "No."

"Ah..." he shut his eyes, silently whimpering to himself. "F-Fine..." he sniffled.

"You can go," Kakarot said. His stare didn't leave him not one bit. Seeing how the man didn't move, Kakarot figured that he wasn't heard. "I said you may leave."

"R-Really?" He wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Yes," Kakarot said. "Get up and go."

The soldier rose up on his two feet and looked into the eyes of a killer. Kakarot's glare had not broken for remotely a second. The weak soldier felt as if he was deceiving himself by the look on Kakarot's face. He registered it as a look of regret. But inside...he knew he was wrong. Regardless, if he had a chance to flee with his life, he wasn't going to tarnish it. "Thank-you." The man turned around and ran as hard as his legs could carry him.

"You did a good thing," Vino said. After all what had been going on, he thought that Kakarot lost a part of himself, the part of him that remained humanized. "He was weak and won't do you any harm. He probably was forced into that lifestyle anyway. No soldier crying like he was in the face of death could have truly wanted to be in the Freeza Force."

"As if it matters," Kakarot said. "I just wanted to have some fun and an extra corpse in the body field would merely distract me from the other future victims that are soon to come." He then scoffed. "And his tears...unbearable. They reminded me of my own brat when he cried."

"So...?" Vino asked.

"As planned. Everyone on this planet is going to die. When we burn down the buildings here, he will most likely suffocate and burn in a destroyed piece of infrastructure that was brought down by my hands." Kakarot smirked. "I can't believe how well said that was." A simple fit of chuckles turned into laughter.

"What the hell...?"

Kakarot suddenly raised his left hand aside him and fired away a blast. He didn't even look at his targets and still hit a group of five soldiers spot on. "We let all of them come and we dispose of them before we head into the cities and finish the job."

Vino looked at Kakarot, who was looking at him. He knew Kakarot belonged to a race of Saiyans and heard a bit about them from other members while Kakarot was having heart problems. He heard of the various monstrosities committed by them, all of it with no remorse. They could destroy entire civilizations and have a good rest on the way back home as if it was just a harmless day job.

He was now witnessing this for himself.

Hundreds of soldiers were in the sky, ready to attack Kakarot and Vino. "I'll attack them. Whoever falls and remains conscious, you finish off."

"Yes, sir..."

Kakarot's power began to rise as he powered up. He made sure to observe the faces of all his enemies as his power continued to grow. The looks they had when his power was far past that of 100,000 but didn't show any signs of slowing down made him realize just how bad they shat themselves.

"W-We have to leave!" One of them yelled.

Kakarot launched at them before either of them could blink. "RUNNING AWAY IS NO LONGER AN OPTION!"

In a split second, five men were all falling down to their deaths, each of them dismembered in some manner. Kakarot went from person to person, giving rendering them all lethal one-shots that resulted in death. A blow to the temple, a karate chop to the neck, a bone-shattering knee to the liver. All of his blows required one hit and nothing more.

'He's tearing through them like flames on paper...'

The motion in which Kakarot went with was smooth. He grabbed one member by their long hair and smashed his forehead into another's face, breaking their skulls on impact. He blasted them both and let the momentum of his ki attack add onto the body count, taking at least 20 others with the other two prior to exploding in the air.

Like any fight, Kakarot could feel his blood rushing. The thrill of killing as he was felt like a drug and he was all the way on cloud nine. He felt the presence of two people coming from behind and backfisted them each. Once his leg was raised, the boot he had on stopped another person dead in their tracks with the bottom of the shoe being crushed against his torso.

"K-Kagh!" Blood spat out from his mouth.

Everyone else stopped fighting immediately, looking at the presence of this monstrous Saiyan. His devilish grin would force little boys and girls into having to face the name of death rather than seeing such a thing in their own nightmares.

"Run or fight, your lives all end here."

Vino didn't even have to finish off anybody kept unintentionally alive. He just watched as the lifeless bodies dropped one by one. The smell of blood and death was beginning to coat the sweet fragrance of roses. The blue concrete was now tainted with blood.

All of these acts by one man. One man who seemed to be losing himself.

* * *

"The view is so cool from up here! I never get tired of it."

Videl and Ox were still flying around 'town'. Before they knew it, the night had come upon them, and so, the many lights of the cities below came about. The dazzling stars in the sky shone brightly on them.

"I know," Ox said. The thoughts of his father's decision to not stay with them, for the time being, was beginning to go away, thus the pain he felt. The pain he did have was being replaced by the sincere friendliness of Videl, whom he considered his Best Friend. Girlfriend and Boyfriend was only a thing they'd save for the future. As of now, they were besties that liked one another.

And the two were perfectly content with that. Two kids who were having a good time.

Piccolo was even higher in the sky than they were, flying through the clouds. The Namekian made sure they didn't know, but he kept a close eye on them when they were out together. After all, they were his two pupils and were kids, so they needed _some_ supervision.

He couldn't shake this big feeling of pride, nor did he want to. Piccolo long ago accepted the fact that he could never be like his father and gave into the human side of him. Earth was his home now, a place he'd protect by any means. And this world held two little people he'd always protect by any means.

It had always been rare to find such a peace equal to this these past few years. Such peaceful times were moments to cherish. Because as fast as they would come, they'd be able to vanish.


End file.
